#digimon maps

[digimon-v]

Here are the maps for Digimon Tamers: Brave Tamer.

The main reason I got these was for the Crevasse of the Black Egg which has a different boss depending on how long you take to reach the boss room.

I have the pathway through most of these done, except for Takato's (which I may have forgotten the path I took >.>). I'll upload them later if anyone really wants them ♥

[low-polygon-count]

Bullet Valley and Dum Dum Factory - Digimon World 3 - 2003

[satoshi-mochida]

Digimon Story: Time Stranger details story, world, characters, Digimon count, and more - Gematsu

Publisher Bandai Namco and developer Media.Vision shared new information and footage on the February-announced Digimon Story: Time Stranger at Digimon Con 2025, including details on its story, world, characters, Digimon count, and more.

Get the information below, as shared by producer Ryosuke Hara.

■ Staff

Main Character Design: Suzuhito Yasuda (Yozakura Quartet, BOOTSLEG, illustrator of Durarara!!)

Boss Character Design: Oh! great (Tenjho Tenge, Air Gear, Kaijin Fugeki)

Music: Masafumi Takada (Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory)

■ Story

Synopsis

“The story begins in Tokyo, Japan. “The protagonist is an agent of ADAMAS, a secret organization that specializes in investigating and solving anomalous phenomena. “In the course of their investigation, they encounter an unknown creature called a “Digimon” in Shinjuku, an area sealed off by the government, and are caught up in a mysterious explosion. “They then reawaken eight years in the past… “The protagonist then pursues the mystery of the impending world’s collapse, while searching for a way to stop it. Players can experience an epic story that depicts the bonds and conflicts arising from the complex intertwining of two opposing elements: ‘Past and Future,’ ‘The Human World and The Digital World,’ and ‘Humans and Digimon.’ Experience an epic story of bonds and conflicts between humans and Digimon!”

■ Two Worlds: Human World and Digital World

“The setting of this story will be split between the Human World and the Digital World: Iliad.”

“On the Human World side, the story will mainly be centered on Shinjuku and Akihabara. The previous Cyber Sleuth titles featured various areas from within Tokyo, but in this new title, instead of deliberately narrowing things down, we decided to prioritize recreating the city with a greater sense of scale and detail to maximize the sense of immersion in the story. Especially in Shinjuku, where we recreated part of the underground mall. To be honest, I can hardly remember the entire map. Even in the game, there might be times where you leave through the wrong exit and find yourself at a bus stop or something.

“Now, let me introduce the other side of the game, the Digital World: Iliad. This is Central Town, which will be at the center of the adventure. It’s packed with all sorts of Digimon, and also home to a number of shops that will be of great use to the protagonist. Everywhere you turn in this city, there are Digimon of course, and all sorts of trendy bars and whatnot. The city gives the strong impression that it’s a place where Digimon live their lives. “In the Cyber Sleuth games, you would travel back and forth between the Human World and Cyberspace, but there were very few opportunities to actually visit the Digital World. In this new title, you will be making frequent visits to the Digital World, and as you briefly saw in the trailer, the game will use a symbol encounter system in which you will battle enemy Digimon by touching them. Since there are Digimon everywhere, we believe that this will give a completely different sense of immersion and impact to the players’ adventure. There are plenty of other fascinating and charming areas in the Digital World, so keep your eyes peeled for more information in the future.”

■ A Greater Sense of Immersion

“As I mentioned while introducing the Human World, we really paid attention to the sense of immersion in the story. We took extra care to enhance this, and tried to avoid making any choices that might inhibit it. We’ve especially dedicated our efforts to developing the story. I believe that the overall setting, the construction, and appearance of each area, and so on, are all important parts of setting the stage to enhance the story. After all, if the setting is haphazard or messy, it makes it hard to appreciate the story itself, so we’re taking extra care to depict everything that needs to be depicted. “For example, Central Town, which is the center of the whole adventure, is a town full of energy, so when it comes to the three-dimensional space, the sense of life from the Digimon that live there, the distribution of those Digimon, and even the background music and environmental sounds—we created all of them with the hope that it would make the players feel the density of the place, and that its overflowing energy would invigorate players with motivation to set off on their next adventure. Also, to give you a clearer idea, the different areas in Iliad each use the gears that also appear in the game’s title logo in different ways. The gears themselves actually hold a significant hidden meaning, so if you pay careful attention to where they appear during your adventure. I think you’ll find it to be even more enjoyable.”

■ “Time” as a Keyword

“This part [the keyword of “Time”] is directly tied to the storyline of the game, so it’s a bit hard for me to talk about in detail, but I’ll tell you a little bit about it. The primary objective of the game is to identify and prevent the cause of the mystery of the world’s collapse, which is destined to come sooner or later. As briefly mentioned in the plot synopsis, the protagonist is not able to travel through time at will, but the story will progress as they grow more involved with it. From the protagonist’s perspective, Digimon are a completely unknown existence to them, and the fact that they are thrown back and forth through time on top of that makes for some extraordinarily unusual situations. The intersection of the Human and Digital Worlds was a plot point utilized in past anime and games as well, but this title will show you just what kind of developments can occur by adding the element of time into the mix. We hope that players will be able to enjoy this unique dramatic experience with their own hands.”

■ Characters

Protagonist: Dan Yuki / Protagonist: Kanan Yuki – Agent of a Special Investigation Bureau ADAMAS. Caught in a mysterious explosion and sent back eight years…

“These two are the protagonists that you saw in the teaser visual shown earlier. Their names are Dan Yuki and Kanan Yuki. They are both agents of the secret organization ADAMAS, which specializes in investigating and solving anomalous phenomena. In fact, they are the most promising duo in the entire organization. “In the previous Cyber Sleuth games, where you could choose between the two protagonist, Takumi Aiba and Ami Aiba, whichever character you did not choose would not appear elsewhere in the game. However, in this game, players will control the character they choose at the start, while the other character will serve as their operator, providing instructions and advice from the organization’s headquarters. As such, one of the endearing things about this title is that you can see the different ways in which the two characters do their work. To be frank, if you asked me which one of the two roles gets more spoken lines, I’d have to say it would probably be the operator, so it makes sense to make your decision from that point of view as well.”

Inori Misono – A kind-hearted girl embarks on an adventure across the worlds with an agent.

“Next up, we have the game’s main heroine, Inori Misono, a kind-hearted and caring high school girl. She grew to be like this because of a certain event that she experienced in her past. Her past is also related to what led her to accompany the protagonist on their adventure. Stay tuned for future updates to find out exactly what happened to her, and what kind of active role she will play in the story.”

Aegiomon – Inori’s partner Digimon. A Digimon that holds the key to the story. What fate awaits them?

“Next is Aegiomon, the Digimon that holds the key to this title’s story. Encountering the protagonists in the human world, and working together with Inori Misono, who we just introduced, as her partner Digimon. In battles, the player will control a party of three Digimon, and Aegiomon will join them as an extra battle member, making them one of the most reliable companions both in the story and in battles. I could even go as far as to say he’s one of the protagonists, so I hope you’ll look forward to seeing what Aegiomon gets up to in the game proper.”

Partner Digimon: Patamon, Gomamon, and DemiDevimon

“Up next, let me introduce the Digimon we briefly saw in the teaser visual. At the start of the game, players will gain either Patamon, Gomamon, or DemiDevimon as their teammate. Players will chose one of these three, which will then be provided to them by the secret organization ADAMAS. Digimon Story games are all about bringing a bunch of different Digimon to your side and training them in tandem, but the one you choose at the start always feels the most special, and players can’t help but favor them… I hope that everyone will enjoy their adventure together with their favorite Digimon!”

????

“Next, this was designed by Oh! great. What is its purpose? How will it stand in the protagonist’s way? What is it in the first place!? Without a doubt, it is a key element in the story. You can see part of its body for a brief moment in the trailer, but you can tell how huge it is. If you’re curious, go ahead and give the trailer another watch! “That’s all for the character introductions, but there are plenty of other characters and Digimon that I wasn’t able to share with you today, so please keep an eye out for future announcements.”

■ Olympos XII

“I had originally planned to unveil [this] information in a future announcement, but since today is Digimon Con, I’ll just come out and say it now! In this game, the Digimon that make up the Olympos XII will play an active role in the story. Simply put, the Olympos XII are 12 Digimon that serve as protectors of the Digital World: Iliad, and their powers are said to rival those of the Royal Knights. Some of their members have made various appearances as Digimon in past anime and games, but they have scarcely ever appeared all together on this scale before… A major event brings them together in this game.”

■ Over 450 Digimon in the Game

“Cyber Sleuth featured about 250 Digimon, and if you include the follow-up Hacker’s Memory, that total was brought up to about 330, but this game has one-upped them both, allowing players to train more than 450 Digimon in total! This is the largest roster ever seen in the Digimon Story series. I’m sure everyone will have fun digivolving and dedigivolving their Digimon! We will be revealing more and more Digimon in the future, so please stay tuned and look forward to it! I’m not at liberty to share any more information regarding [whether the three starter Digimon will have more possible digivolutions as well] right now!”

(Editor’s Note: This is a low-quality stream recording. It will be replaced with an official upload once it is available.) “Everyone on the team loves Digimon, so we really wanted to give Angewomon the energy she deserves. The quality was pretty good to begin with, but we ended up redoing the Terra Force animation three times over. We were like, ‘We can make this look even better!’ That’s just how much the creators love Digimon, and that’s what lets the modeling and animation have such a passionate flair to it.” A Message to Fans “Digimon Story: Time Stranger will be the latest Digimon Story series since the release of its predecessor, Cyber Sleuth, 10 years ago. I can only express my sincerest gratitude to all the fans who have waited so patiently for this new installment, and it brings me incredible joy to be the one who is able to bring it to all of you now. We hope that this will satisfy not only our long-time fans, but also newcomers who have yet to experience the Digimon video games. The entire development team will continue to work our hardest on the game up until its release.”

Digimon Story: Time Stranger is due out for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam in 2025.

Watch the Digimon Con archive below. (This post will be updated with specific timestamps for the Digimon Story: Time Stranger segment once the broadcast ends.)

Digimon Con 2025

English

Japanese

[ayukaze]

Besties we got new Digimon Adventure merch art!!!

After sort of a dry spell in since April due to all the collabs actually getting their proper run in cafes/stores etc, there is finally some excitement for the 25th Anniversary celebrations again (tbh they should've announced this on the livestream smh smh) . The theme this time is "marine" and it's a nice follow up to the Digimon Tamers merch that was announced about a month ago.

The vibe of being part of a crew is coming off really well through the outfit design, but the key point is the pins of their crest and the type of hat that the kid is wearing. If you look closely, Koushiro, Takeru among the boys are not wearing the officer style hat but berets and their pins are missing as well, similarly for Hikari her beret hat is differently style than the other girls with the missing pin. Koushiro and Takeru are also not wearing ties like the other boys but the sailor knot, which leads me to believe that this is a reference to the their roles on the ship, implying that Koushiro, Hikari and Takeru still lack a designation.

When we look at the other kids, the difference in roles becomes much clearer.

While Taichi greets us with a perfect salute, Yamato takes the helm. A very interesting take where Taichi (as the Captain?) sets direction and Yamato ensures that they follow his desired path. Tbvh I could write a whole essay about why this specific depiction of their roles is so groundbreaking, but for now I'll just end on how whenever they're depicted as a team, the sense of equilibrium between the two of them is never lost.

PS: I also love Agumon's little lop sided hat, he is trying his best to support Taichi and that's just adorable.

Next we have Sora and Mimi and again the detailing in their positions to their actual roles in the show is very visible. Sora is on lookout duty, keeping watch against any unchartered occurrences, making sure that the crew can be alerted before disaster falls. Mimi on the other hand, is most likely the stewardess, and is keeping the morale up with her cheers and support! Love the little crests flags she is waving, and the groupings of the crest is definitely interesting 🫣 Jou with the map of their course is very apt as well, in the show we see him attempting to find his footing as the voice of reason between Taichi and Yamato arguing many times, so now he's here making sure that the two stick the job they have been given, ready to correct the course if any tensions rise.

Koushiro, Hikari and Takeru are for me the most interesting of the lot for the reasons pointed out earlier. While the other kids are portrayed as taking some sort of role on the ship, these three seem to be enjoying their times as cadets (in training?). Especially Takeru and Hikari, who are the youngest, are having fun playing around with their partners. Koushiro on the other hand, definitely wants to contribute in some way, and maybe the best way Taichi and Yamato could get him to stop tailing them was to put him on fishing duty lol.

All in all, this is a great piece of illustration, I'm glad we got some more new outfits! If someone has a more in depth understanding of how things work on a cruise ship or similar, please share your thoughts and let me know how you interpret the roles here!

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 02x23 - When the Digivice was Tainted by Darkness / Genesis of Evil

Previously on Digimon Adventure: Daisuke watched a Digimon piss and they were not very happy about it. And now for some deep-seated psychological trauma!

We've been fighting the Digimon Kaiser for twenty episodes. Now it's finally time to ask the question: Okay, but for real, who is Ichijouji Ken anyway?

Also, according to the unreliable Dub Narrator, we will find out in this episode if the Chosen Children/DigiDestined truly do have a new enemy out there. So that sounds fun!

We open quietly and slowly at "Tamachi T.M. マンシヨン", the last word of which is マンシヨン Manshon or Mansion. As discussed way back in episode 1 when Natsuko and Takeru moved in to the complex they live in, a マンション manshon is a more upscale and high-quality apartment complex compared to a cheaper アパー��� apaato. Unsurprisingly, the Ichijouji family is well-off.

We've been to the Ichijouji residence before but I think this is the first time we've ever seen the name on the building. Since Ken also attends a school named Tamachi, it's likely that he's meant to live in the area surrounding Tamachi Station, shown on the map here.

For reference, the blue circle represents the area informally referred to as "Tamachi". It's just across the Rainbow Bridge from Odaiba, the red circle. The black circle is, as always, Vamdemon's base of operations in Daiba Park way back when.

Part of this area is the district of Shibaura, which caused so much trouble back then. That was where Hikari's cat Miko ended up taking her Digivice, misleading both the Chosen Children and Vamdemon to believe that the Eighth Child lived somewhere around Shibaura.

There is something deliciously ironic about Ken in fact living somewhere around Shibaura.

Inside apartment 303, Ken's mother quietly closes his door and exits his room into the living room. Her husband is waiting for her on the couch.

Father: Ken... How is he?

Mom shakes her head and takes a seat next to him.

Mother: But I'm sure it won't be too long before he wakes up....

Dad reaches over, placing a gentle hand over Mom's. A soft reassurance that they're going through this together.

Ken is going through a hell of a hangover. Sleeping off the Digimon Kaiser is no easy feat.

The original episode has a slow and silent zoom in on the Ichijouji apartment to build tension and uncertainty. The dub opts for a more sad and sympathetic opening, with somber music and extra dialogue to set the scene.

Mother: Ken, honey? It's Mom. I just want you to know that Dad and I are right outside your room. We're not going anywhere so when you wake up, we'll be here. (Inside the apartment, Mom closes the door) Father: Well? Is he awake yet? (Mom shakes head and sits down on couch) Mother: But... I know he'll wake up. He just needs a little more rest. (Dad places gentle hand on Mom's) Father: Don't worry. He's strong. Just like his mother.

This meshes with their respective treatments of Ken two episodes ago. In the original, we don't really know what to expect from Ken at this point. We had our final battle and it ended so weird. What are we supposed to make of him now? Where does he go from here? Are we going to be fighting him again in a week's time, or does he finally take the hint and buzz off? What does he even want?

Whereas the dub already leapt straight to "All is forgiven! You gonna join our team now?" before the final battle with Kimeramon even finished. There is no tension here because we were fighting to redeem Ken in the first place and already succeeded. It just needs a little time to settle in.

As Ken's parents wait for him in the living room, we move to his room and find him asleep. Like Hikari, Ken insists on sleeping in the top bunk even in a bed built for one person.

As an interesting note, last time we saw Ken, he was splayed out carelessly across his bed. But now he's neatly tucked in like the cutest little cherub. That's how much his mom loves him.

Ken (V.O.): I have to stay asleep. I have to find my heart. Where did my heart go?

Entering into Ken's headspace, we find him blowing bubbles with a straw. The image of his brother Osamu, briefly seen dying two episodes ago, is reflected in the bubble he blows.

Ken (V.O.): When I was little... When I was little, I used to blow soap bubbles. Bigger... And bigger....

Zooming out from the bubbles, we see Osamu watching Ken blow the bubbles with a smile on his face.

Ken (V.O.): I was never a genius. The genius was Osamu-niisan. Osamu-niisan could do anything. I was so proud of him.

An interesting note is that Ken has two honorifics he calls Osamu. In his mind, he calls him by the relaxed and casual Nii-san, which is very informal. But when speaking to him in dialogue, he's a bit more formal. He uses Onii-chan, which is cutesy and childish and conveys a lot of emotional attachment.

Takeru and Hikari also use Onii-chan to convey how emotionally close they are with their respective brothers.

In the dub:

Ken (V.O.): I know I should wake up... but I can't. It's not time yet. Not until I find my heart. It feels like I lost it. I keep looking for it but I just can't seem to find it. I know once I do, everything will be back to the way it was.... (Blowing of bubbles) Ken (V.O.): Like when I was a little kid. I used to learn everything from my older brother Sam. I remember the time he taught me to blow bubbles. (Ken blows bubbles while Sam watches and smiles) Ken (V.O.): At first I couldn't do it but he kept encouraging me. Soon, I was blowing bubbles bigger than he was! Sam was the real genius in the family. I was so proud of him....

Dub Ken's inner monologue is longer and more comprehensive. In the original, Ken's inner monologue is dream-like. He sounds like he's drifting along on a sea of memory, where Dub Ken is consciously narrating his autobiography.

It's also a little awkward how he brags about kicking Sam's ass at bubble-blowing and then immediately segues back on-script to Sam being the true genius.

Mind you, it's true. This is something they'll talk about that later, so I guess they just wanted to seed that in early.

As dub names go, "Sam" for "Osamu" is along the same lines as "Matt" for "Yamato" or "Izzy" for "Izumi Koushiro"; it sounds like an easy English nickname derived from his real Japanese name. As opposed to Davis, Cody, and Yolei which might as well have been drawn from a hat.

As Ken's mindspace progresses, we see baby Ken walking hand-in-hand with his mother.

Ken: That's the lady from next door!

One by one, echoes of the next door lady appear in Ken's mindspace, burned into his memory in that same pose.

Lady: Everyone says your son Osamu-chan is exceptional! Lady: Oh, I'm so jealous! Lady: He's nothing like my kid. Lady: I want to brew the dirt from under Osamu-chan's fingernails and make my son drink it!

Okay, that's going to need some explaining.

爪の垢を煎じて飲む Tsume no aka wo senjite nomu is a Japanese expression. It basically means you idolize this other person so much that you wish you could take a little piece of their essence and incorporate it into yourself. Obviously, nobody literally does this, but it's a turn-of-phrase.

Lady: How did you teach him? Lady: What kind of homemaker are you? Lady: He must have inherited only the best traits from his parents, huh? Lady: Oh, what a genius!

Those last three questions are all in the context of, "What did you do to produce such an exceptional child?"

Ken (V.O.): Mom basked in those words.

The word Ken uses here is 溺れた oboreta, which literally means to drown. As a turn-of-phrase, it also means indulgence in an addiction. Mom didn't just enjoy hearing it; She couldn't get enough. Being praised for Osamu's brilliance was the highlight of her day.

We've seen similar questions asked about Ken himself years later, and this goes a long way to examining why he's so hostile to those sentiments. He was on the outside looking in on this behavior long before he suddenly became the recipient of it.

In the dub:

Ken: Here come the neighbor ladies! Lady: My cousin has a friend that knows someone that says your little Sam is the smartest boy in school! Lady: Can I get my picture taken with him? Lady: I have three daughters I'd like him to meet! Lady: Has he decided to be a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon? Lady: Where can I get his autobiography!? Lady: You and your husband are geniuses to have had him! Lady: Can I get a lock of his hair? I'd like to have him cloned! Lady: Will he sing at my wedding? Ken (V.O.): Those kind of comments went straight to my mom's head.

The core point that Osamu was heavily praised and their mom loved it is here. But wow.

The dub presents these eight identical impressions of the neighbor lady as different women from the neighborhood. And their obsession with this genius boy transcends "Your son is amazing!" and delves straight into the realm of Holy Fuck Restraining Order.

This is obviously meant to be comically over-the-top, of course. The dub's always played Ken's prodigy reputation for laughs and they're doing the same with Sam. And for an episode like this, opportunities to inject levity are going to be few and far between, so I do get why they went this route.

As the sad baby Ken processes the neighbor lady's neglect, suddenly his mom pulls her hand away from him too and we transition into the family apartment.

Ken: (gasp) Mama?

With her back to Ken, Mom gushes over Osamu.

Mother: Osamu-chan, Mama got praised again today! Oh, you're such a good boy, Osamu-chan!

Then, realizing she's being watched, she suddenly turns around.

Mother: Uhh, you're a good boy too, Ken-chan. Ken: I'm always an afterthought.

Shrouded in darkness, Ken watches the image of Osamu on the couch surrounded by their parents' love slowly fade into the distance.

Ken: (thinking) Mama only cares so much about Onii-chan because everyone's always praising him. Nothing would change if I wasn't here. Ken: If Onii-chan wasn't here, would that be me over there? If only Onii-chan were gone... Onii-chan... (gasp) That's it! If Onii-chan were gone...!

Ken's face hardens into a vicious scowl. A mask of cruelty to hide his pain.

Ken: I want you to disappear, Onii-chan!

Ken is, sadly, too young to realize that his jealous ire is misplaced. It's not Osamu's fault that Ken's home life is miserable. It's his parents who are fucking up here and inadvertently cultivating that hostility.

Those words, "Nothing would change if I wasn't here", are also important. There is a suicidal undertone to Ken's journey. There... kind of always has been, ever since he deleted himself from the human world. And it starts right here with this stray thought.

In the dub:

Mother: (lets go of Ken's hand) Oh, Sam! Ken: Mama? Mother: All the neighbors came up to me again and said what a wonderful boy you are! One of them even asked me for an autograph! Can you believe it!? (Mother suddenly turns around) Mother: Oh, Ken. I'm sorry. Did you say something? Ken: (depressed) Never mind, Mama. It's not important. (Ken watches his family fade into the distance) Ken: Mom and Dad are always paying more attention to Sam than to me. I know they love him more because he's smarter than me! I'll never get even one of them to notice me as long as Sam's around! If only Sam weren't around, then I would be.... (gasp) That's it! If only Sam weren't here, then I'd be the one they loved. (Ken scowls cruelly) Ken: I WISH SAM WOULD JUST DISAPPEAR!!!

The dub pins down Sam's exceptionalism as the thing about him that Ken resents. If Sam wasn't so brilliant then their parents would love Ken too.

In the original, it's his popularity. If Osamu wasn't constantly being praised for his brilliance, then their parents would love Ken too. Mom doesn't consciously love Osamu more for being smart; However, she's addicted to the praise and can't help but gush over it, which makes Ken feel left out and unwanted.

She does attempt to puff up Ken too. It's just that Ken can see her weak gesture for the afterthought that it is. She isn't malicious about it, but she is fucking up.

The dub cuts out this middleman and just says "Fuck Sam for being so brilliant in the first place." Which I think is a misstep, since it's the praise that more directly connects Ken's jealousy of Osamu to Ken's own demonstrated experiences and bitterness towards the world around him in episode 9.

As soon as Ken makes his proclamation, smash cut to a glowing light emerging from the monitor in Ken's room. The object ambiguously lands directly between the two brothers.

We know exactly what that is, and so does Present Ken's inner monologue.

Ken (V.O.): A Digivice appeared before our very eyes.

As the light fades, the object is revealed as a traditional Digivice like the ones that the veteran Chosen Children received.

Ken (V.O.): But, obviously, it was for Osamu-niisan. After all, Osamu-niisan could do anything and could have anything.

Osamu picks up the Digivice and inspects it, but nothing happens. He holds it up to his ear and shakes it. A little rattling from the internal mechanisms, but still nothing happens.

Ken (V.O.): But nothing happened. The Digivice was just there. Osamu-niisan looked so dejected.

Osamu stands up, walking over to the desk. He stuffs the Digivice in a drawer. However, some time later, Ken opens that drawer to see it for himself.

Ken (V.O.): I had no idea what it was. But I knew... it was something special. I got excited just from looking at it.

Ken reaches into the drawer. As he lays his hand on the Digivice, it suddenly lights up. Pretty clear whose Digivice this actually is. Ken screams and, before he knows what's happening, he's pulled inside the computer. Through the Digital Gate and into the Digital World.

Poor Osamu. Kinda seems unfair that Ken was Chosen and Osamu wasn't.

I wonder if that's going to be thematically relevant to something down the road? Mm, probably not.

The dub gives the boys dialogue during this sequence.

Ken (V.O.): Then, one night, a Digivice came out of our computer. I figured it had to be Sam's. Ken: Sam, what is that? Sam: I'm not sure, Kenny-boy. Maybe the computer blew a fuse or something.

FLUNG IT STRAIGHT OUT OF THE MONITOR HAHAHAHAHAHA

Sam: Let's take a look. Ken: Be careful! It might still be hot! (Sam picks up the Digivice but nothing happens) Sam: Huh?

When Sam lifts the Digivice to his ear and shakes it, it can be heard rattling but it's really soft and hard to make out over the music.

Ken: Is there something inside? Sam: Uh-uh... I don't know what this thing is, but I'm gonna find out. Now, listen to me, Kenny-boy. Whatever you do, don't touch it. (Sam stuffs it in his drawer; Ken opens the drawer back up) Ken (V.O.): I know that Sam told me to stay away from it but I couldn't help myself. I felt like I was being drawn to it somehow. Like something was telling me that it belonged to me. I just wanted to look at it. What harm could that do?

The dub sets its first commercial break here, as Ken vanishes into the Digital World with his Digivice.

This is a pretty significant characterization shift for Sam. In the original, Osamu and Ken both assume the Digivice belongs to Osamu out of a sense of entitlement, basically. When Osamu shoves it in his desk, it's because he's mad that this magic device that popped out of the computer isn't doing anything.

In the dub, no assumptions are made about who "deserves" the Digivice or whatever. Sam comes across like a responsible big brother, trying to protect Ken from the weird doodad that suddenly and inexplicably manifested in their room. He shoves it in his desk out of a sense of caution.

It's evening by the time Ken returns from the Digital World. Osamu enters the room just in time to see the Digital Gate open and release Ken back into the human world.

Sitting on the floor, Ken's staring at his Digivice in wonder. Suddenly, Osamu calls out to him, and danger chords begin playing in the background.

Osamu: Ken! Ken: Huh? Osamu: (coldly) What are you doing?

Ken holds up the Digivice to show it to Osamu.

Ken: Th-This-- Osamu: WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?

Before Ken can get another word out, Osamu slaps the back of his hand, knocking the Digivice from it.

Osamu: Don't touch my stuff without permission! Ken: S... Sorry....

While Ken cradles his hand, Osamu bends down and picks up the Digivice.

Osamu: This is mine. Ken: I'm so sorry!

Osamu returns the Digivice to his drawer, continuing to gripe.

Osamu: Rifling through someone's desk... Only the worst kinds of people would do something like that! Ken: I'm sor-- Osamu: This is mine! Don't ever touch it without my permission! Got it? Ken: I'm really sorry. Osamu: You're distracting me from my studies. GET OUT!!!

Dejected, Ken stands up and leaves the rooms.

What an asshole. This moment raises the stakes in their relationship and contextualizes some of Ken's bitterness earlier. Osamu isn't just the apple of their parents' eyes; He's also abusive.

An interesting note about Osamu's room is that, from the layout, you can clearly tell that it's the same room that now belongs to Ken in the present. Same computer desk, same bookshelf with top-bunk bed.

In the dub, Sam starts talking before entering the room.

Sam: Ken, are you still in my room? You better not be touching my stuff! (Sam enters and sees Ken return) Ken: Wow! Cool! Sam: KEN!!! Ken: Uh-oh. Sam: Just what do you think you're doing!? (Ken shows the Digivice) Ken: I didn't break it! Sam: I said, "Don't touch it"! (Sam slaps the Digivice out of Ken's hand) Sam: Don't touch my things ever again! Ken: I'm... sorry.... (Sam picks up the Digivice) Sam: You have to have respect for people's property, Ken. Ken: I will.... (Sam returns the Digivice to his desk) Sam: It's too late for that. I already told you once not to go in my drawer and you broke my trust. Now I'll never be able to trust you again! Ken: But I... I-I.... Sam: What if you'd gotten hurt!? Mom and Dad would be looking to blame someone and it would be me, not you! Ken: I said sorry.... Sam: Now get out. I have to study!

He's still an asshole but, as with before, Sam's unjustifiably over-the-top reaction here nonetheless seems to be coming from a place of concern for his brother's safety. He's still violently possessive, but with some nuance. Though the way he presents it nonetheless indicates that he's more worried about the blowback on him than he is worried for Ken.

Whereas in the original, he's just an entitled little shit. His motives are plain as day from the way he exclaims "This is mine!" twice. He's furious about the possibility that for once in their lives, Ken might get to have something that he doesn't. So he takes it away from Ken using both physical and verbal violence.

This scene brings Sam closer in characterization to Osamu, but there's still more nuance to his outburst than Osamu has.

Dejected, Ken walks away into darkness, roaming through the shadows of the older Ken's memory.

Ken: (thinking) Nii-san hates me... Because I'm not a good kid... Because I'm the worst kind of person... But why? I'm so miserable....

They replay the footage of baby Ken watching his parents shower Osamu with love and adoration.

Ken: (thinking) Nii-san has everything. I have nothing. I WISH MY BROTHER WOULD DISAPPEAR!!!

As those words echo in Ken's memory space, they are suddenly and swiftly answered by the car that ended Osamu's life.

In the dub, it's the grown-up Ken who unpacks what just happened.

Ken (V.O.): Sam hated me. I wasn't as good a person as he was. But that wasn't enough for him; He had to punish me because of it! He didn't have to hit me! I just wanted to play with his toy! So what if I didn't ask for his permission first!? And I couldn't tell Mom and Dad because as far as they were concerned, he could do no wrong. Ken: Sometimes I wish... HE WOULD JUST DISAPPEAR!!! (Sam hit by car) Ken (V.O.): And then he did.

Thanks, Ken. I wouldn't have got that if you hadn't explained it. In any case, the dub pulls no punches on the smash cut to Sam's death.

The differing narrators offer differing perspectives. Baby Ken in the original internalizes the abuse and spirals around it until finally he breaks and lets out that outburst again.

The older Ken in the dub looks back on this whole event with a sense of disdainful perspective. He calls out Sam's abuse and the unfairness of his situation back then for what it was. He even brings up that regardless of Sam's motives, the hand smack was completely uncalled for.

I really like both versions of this.

Following Osamu's death, we find Ken at his wake. With tears in his eyes, a distraught Ken approaches Osamu's memorial photo on the funeral altar.

Ken: Onii-chan... Did this happen because I wanted you to disappear?

Inside Ken's mind-space, he watches his parents grow distance again. Only this time, rather than showering Osamu in praise, it's because they're mourning.

Ken: Where do I go? Where do I belong?

Osamu's gone and still Ken is alone.

In the dub:

Ken: Sam, I didn't mean it. I was just mad when I said I wanted you to disappear! (Ken watches his mourning parents grow distant) Ken: Look how sad I made my parents. They loved Sam more than anything in the whole world! I know how much the both of you miss Sam! But I'm still here!

Same idea but more bluntly.

Fast forward to some time later. Enough that Ken looks visibly older, though not as old as the Ken we know. We find him at the computer desk.

Ken (V.O.): One day, while I was messing around with Nii-san's computer, I found an email addressed to me. An email for me. An email written specifically for me. Someone... for me....

The poison for Kuzco. The poison chosen specially to kill Kuzco. Kuzco's poison.

In seriousness, his repetition of the statement is meant to indicate how mind-blowing it was that someone, of their own volition, was reaching out... to him. Baby Ken's self-esteem had been so utterly destroyed by his upbringing that even before he read it, just receiving an email was this grand earthshattering gesture.

This might actually be the first time in his life that someone has, on purpose, reached out to connect with him.

In any case, the email is read in a new, unidentified voice.

Ken (V.O.): This is what it said. Message: Your brother's passing was an unfortunate accident. It must have been very tragic for you. But take comfort. Your brother's death has brought him peace. There's nothing for you to feel guilty for. Ken (V.O.): I didn't really understand what it meant. Still, I wanted to believe what was written there. It was easier that way. Message: The arrival of your brother's physical death has brought him a true sense of peace because it granted eternal freedom to his spirit. But you have to keep living in this boring, mundane world. In other words, it means the death of your free spirit. You poor thing. I feel sorry for you.

Oh, this guy is definitely recruiting for a cult. He's not saying Ken should commit suicide... but he's not not saying that.

Expressions like "XYZ is in a better place" are common comforts for people grieving a loved one but there's a line between that and "We should all be so lucky to expire! Death is the only true liberation!" And this message is way the hell across that line.

As the message is read, we see black-and-white shots of Ken undergoing his mundane, ordinary life. Walking down the street and eating with his family. Typical, ordinary things. The very thing the message maligns.

In the dub:

Ken (V.O.): Then, one day, I was playing on Sam's old computer and I found an email that was addressed to me.

Quick note: In the original, we hear an email notification alert when the message arrives. It was just sent to Ken right this moment. In the dub, there's no alert.

As for the message's text... This is a fun one because not only do they have to deal with the message itself, but there's also scrolling email text that appears over the black and white shots. That's going to be a lot of work to scrub off the screen and replace with English.

So they don't fucking bother and leave the Japanese text completely unaltered. XD Even the email itself. Between this, the hand slap with no obscuring white flash, and the explicit onscreen death of a child? I think someone realized how important this episode was and locked the censors in a broom closet so they couldn't fuck with it.

Ken (V.O.): I didn't know who would be writing to me or how they would know I was on Sam's computer. Message: I'm sorry for the loss of your brother. It must have been hard to take. Ken (V.O.): I was scared. And yet, I was compelled to keep reading. It was as if I'd been waiting for this letter my whole life! Message: But don't worry. Your brother is in a better place than this world. He is finally at rest. But when his soul became free, yours became trapped. You bear the burden of both his destiny and your own. Now that your parents have lost their hopes for their perfect child, you will be expected to carry out the dream that Sam can no longer fulfill.

The dub talks a little around that cult talk, though not as much as I expected. They don't sidestep "His soul is free but yours is now bound" at all, but they do extrapolate it as a flowery way of talking about Ken and Sam's parental expectations, specifically.

Though the original message can be interpreted to be about those expectations, so it may be that the dub is simply bringing the subtext into the text. The transference of parental expectations is going to come up later in this episode.

The message continues.

Message: The conclusion that can be drawn is that the current world isn't suitable for you. Now I want to tell you that there's another world that suits you better. Ken: A world that suits me better? Message: A world that will set your spirit free.

Okay but you just said that death set Osamu's spirit free so. Uh. Yeah, now he is kinda telling Ken to kill himself. Metaphorically, at least. He's telling Ken to leave this world behind and go to another one, a better one. Just like Osamu did.

Message: Open the drawer. Ken: The drawer?

Ken reaches for the drawer, but then stops himself. He hesitates for a moment. But then he works up the nerve and opens it, revealing the Digivice.

Ken: Osamu-niisan.... Message: Use that Digivice.

When Ken picks it up, it glows with his light once more. He holds it up to the computer and the Digital Gate opens, drawing him inside.

God, this message is so fucking unnerving. This is so fucking dark. Parents, know who your children are being influenced by on the internet.

As an aside, I love Ken's moment of hesitation in opening the drawer. He's playing around on Osamu's computer with no problem, but Osamu punished him for opening that drawer before so he's reluctant to cross that boundary.

Even though Osamu's dead, the ghost of Osamu's authority continues to haunt Ken.

The dub, of course, is sticking to the "You'll be buried by expectations" angle.

Message: This world will become unbearable for you. Pressure to succeed will be too great. But let me tell you about another world that is much more appropriate. Ken: What does he mean by "another world"? Message: A world where your soul can finally be free. Where you answer to no one but yourself. Open the drawer. Ken: (gasp) The drawer! (Ken hesitates, but opens the drawer) Message: Use Sam's Digivice. Ken: I'm sorry, Sam.

Though it still says "Sam's soul was freed by his death, now let me tell you about how to free your soul." So the eerie implication is still there.

The message calls it Sam's Digivice, which is factually incorrect. It's obviously not his Digivice because it activated for Ken and not him. But that is how Ken was conditioned to think of it by Osamu/Sam's abuse. Original Ken will describe it the same way later in the episode.

On the other side of the Gate, Ken finds himself... somewhere else.

A great black ocean stretches out in front of him. One that should be familiar to those who've seen episode 13.

Ken: ...where am I...?

Stepping into the water, Ken kneels down and sinks his Digivice into it. The dark water changes it, transforming it into the Dark Digivice.

Clutching it, an eerie grin slowly crosses his face.

Ken: That's right, it's... This is my Digivice. It doesn't belong to anyone else. It's mine alone.

There's a subtle implication that something's happening to Ken as he says this. When he first pulls the Digivice out of the water, his eyes has the typical anime catchlight, the little white dot in the upper corner of the eye signifying a little bit of light reflecting.

However, as he delivers this line and his face gradually contorts into that Digimon Kaiser grin, the catchlight fades. By the time he says the Dark Digivice is "mine alone", all light has vanished from his eyes.

In any case, once Ken has the Dark Digivice in his possession, we go to commercial.

In the dub:

Ken (V.O.): I'll never forget the first time I saw the Digital World. It was enormous! I stood there all alone in this huge, empty world.

Okay, two things.

First off, this is not the Digital World. At least not the one we refer to when we say "the Digital World". It's certainly a Digital World, but the Dark Ocean is explicitly a third place.

Second, this is not Ken's first trip. The first time he entered the Digital World was right after the Digivice first arrived. We didn't see what happened to him in there, but he clearly left and then returned. The reason Ken nonetheless doesn't recognize this place on arrival is because it's not the Digital World.

Ken: Where am I?

When Ken steps into the waters, a cacophony of voice clips from various Digimon Emperor line emerge and assault the senses. They're impossible to make out until Ken plunges the Digivice into the water.

Emperor: I've been waiting for you to get here. Now, let the games begin. Emperor: I'm your worst nightmare. Emperor: This world and everything in it belong to me. Ken: This is mine now! No one can ever take it away from me! Or hide it in a drawer! Heh, I'm in control now. Emperor: Soon, I will have control over the entire Digital World!

I think the implication here is supposed to be that the Dark Ocean programmed the Digimon Emperor into Ken?

Or it could be symbolic, with this being the moment Ken met his fate, so to speak.

The dub also takes its second commercial break here.

Returning from commercial, we also return to the present where Ken remains in bed.

His parents are in his room now, watching him sleep.

Mother: Those noises he's making... Is he having a nightmare? ...hey, Papa? Father: Hm? Mother: A long time after Osamu-chan passed away, right when Ken-chan was starting to look like Osamu-chan did when he passed, Ken-chan suddenly started to excel in his schoolwork. Father: Yeah.... Mother: At the time, we were happy because it felt like Osamu-chan had come back to us. But do you think we should have thought more about what that meant for Ken-chan?

Dad nods in agreement.

Father: Ken had plenty of great qualities of his own. But we were busy enjoying being known around town as the parents of a prodigy. Mother: And not just with Ken-chan. Father: Huh? Mother: Did Osamu-chan really like to study so much? I guess he didn't hate it, but lately I've been thinking that maybe he would have liked to play more. Father: Without even realizing it, we might have been keeping him from enjoying himself. Mother: We failed them as parents, huh? Father: We did.

Turning their attention back to the sleeping Ken, his parents plead for him to wake.

Mother: Ken, please wake up soon. Father: Ken, give me a chance to apologize.

And here, in turn, comes the explanation for why Osamu was an asshole. Like Ken, he too is a product of his environment. All children are.

We know Ken eventually crumbled under the pressure and fled into the escapism of the Digital World "video game". He ragequit his parents, he ragequit his society, and he threw himself into the only thing he had that was any fun. The one thing he enjoyed. Hideous misunderstanding though that was.

But Osamu didn't have that. He didn't have a Digital World to escape to. In fact, the Digivice had rejected him. He wasn't Chosen; It wasn't meant for him. So when Osamu cracked, his frustration and stress had to vent somewhere....

As this conversation bears out, the real responsibility lies with their parents. The burden of parental pressure to excel created Osamu's abusive behavior. And then the burden of parental pressure to excel and Osamu's abusive behavior created the DIgimon Kaiser.

In the dub:

Mother: I wonder if he's having a bad dream? I've been thinking.... Father: Huh? Mother: I was remembering back when Ken was younger. He was about the same age Sam was when we lost him. That was right around the time I first noticed a big change in Ken. Remember? He began to put all of his attention into his studies. Father: Yeah? Mother: It was almost as if our Sam had come back to us and I was the happiest mother in the world but I never stopped to think what effect it might have on Ken. Do you think it's possible that's the reason he became like this? (Dad nods) Father: Mhm... Maybe Ken didn't want to study so much. Maybe he wanted to spend more time playing. Although I do admit that I kind of enjoyed the idea of being the father of a genius. Mother: What about Sam? Father: Huh? Mother: What if we made the same mistake with Sam? He might have had interests we ignored. Father: You're right. It's my fault. I shouldn't have pushed him so hard. I loved the attention so much that I... I didn't realize what my son really needed the most: A chance to be a normal kid once in a while. Mother: I hate to say it but we failed as parents. Father: You're right. (Mom and Dad turn their attention back to Ken) Mother: Ken, please wake up. Father: Ken, please give us another chance to be better parents to you.

Don't be so hard on yourself, Dad. You both were too busy soaking up the praise to pay attention to your children's needs. I don't know why you're trying to take all the credit for ruining your kids. It's an awkward bit of blame-shifting on an otherwise solid adaptation.

From here, we return into Ken's mindspace.

Ken (V.O.): Where did my heart go? ...when I was little, I used to blow soap bubbles. Bigger... and bigger....

We join Ken on the balcony blowing soap bubbles again, but this time Osamu's smiling face isn't reflected in them. As we change shots to see Ken, Osamu is no longer standing there beside him.

Ken (V.O.): Yes, those soap bubbles were how I usually played. We mixed soapy water in a cup on the balcony and we'd cut the end of a straw to open it.

Bubbles fill the air, then recede to reveal a shot of another person with Ken, preparing the mixture. He's shot from the neck down; His face absent from memory.

Ken (V.O.): But who made the soapy water? Who cut the end of the straw? Mom? No.

The camera slowly pans up to reveal Osamu's smiling face.

Ken (V.O.): It was Nii-san. That's right... I couldn't blow bubbles unless I used the soapy water and straw that Nii-san made.

Of course it was. Who else would it have been? We've seen Ken's ugliest memory of Osamu, but now we return to Ken's happiest memory of him. A memory that corroborates what their mom was saying a moment ago; It's no coincidence that they were happiest when they both got to just play and be kids.

In the dub:

Ken (V.O.): I can't wake up yet. I still haven't found my heart. I'm still trying to get back to that little kid that used to blow bubbles on his terrace. I'd stand there for hours, blowing them bigger and bigger each time. Each one was completely empty inside, but none of them was as empty inside as I was.

THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR HAPPY MEMORY, KEN. FUCK.

Ken (V.O.): Maybe I was trying to show Sam that I could blow bubbles bigger than he could! And that I was better at something than he was! (Cut to Sam mixing the soapy water) Ken (V.O.): But then again, who was it that taught me to blow the bubbles? (Pan up to reveal Sam's face) Ken (V.O.): Who made the soapy water for me and cut the straws? It wasn't my parents. It was Sam.

Ken's still bragging about his bubble size. Mixing his bitterness into what will, in a moment, be contextualized as an act of gentleness.

The more conscious narration of the dub completely changes the tone of this memory. In the dreamlike state of the original, Ken seems to have momentarily forgotten Osamu only to find him again. It's a reminder of the happy times, momentarily lost to the darkness of the bad times, and a reinforcement of their parents' mistakes.

In the dub, he brings the darkness with him into the happy memory. Ken injects a bitter first-person account into his memory that completely taints the very notion that he was ever happy. These were still good times, but he didn't appreciate them because he was too spiteful.

Man, the dub just can't let this guy have an ounce of humanization, huh?

Entering more fully into the memory, Osamu finishes mixing the cup and holds it out for Ken.

Osamu: Ken, blow this. Ken: Got it!

Ken takes the straw and begins to blow. Ken and Osamu watch in amazement as his bubbles come out large and fully formed. Then Ken offers the straw and cup back to Osamu.

Ken: You do it too, Onii-chan.

Osamu reluctantly takes the cup.

Osamu: Ah, but... I'm not very good at it. Ken: There are things you can't do, Onii-chan!? Osamu: Of course! You're the best at blowing soap bubbles, Ken. It's because you blow them so gently.

This is where Ken being better than Osamu at blowing soap bubbles actually comes into play and is relevant to the story.

Important note: The word Osamu uses here is 優しい yasashii, which means "kindness". As in, Ken's Crest of Kindness. The Kindness that awakened the Golden Radiance.

But there isn't really a good way to fit that into an English translation because blowing bubbles "kindly" isn't a thing. 優しい Yasashii represents an overall sense of gentleness, tenderness, care, and consideration for people and things that makes "Kindness" a fair translation but not fully encompassing of the idea.

Point is, Ken blowing bubbles gently is a direct reference to his Crest virtue.

Osamu: I can't do it. They always pop.

To demonstrate, Osamu blows a bubble of his own. He gets it up to a decent size before it suddenly bursts, leaving Ken alone on the balcony once more.

Ken: Onii-chan? Come back, Onii-chan! Ken (V.O.): But he isn't coming back. Right... Osamu-niisan is dead.

And with him went the secrets of bubble blowing.

That's not a joke. It's a material symbol for the way in which Ken's life became quantifiably lessened by the loss of this person that, for better and for worse, was such a major influence.

When Osamu died, there was nobody to prepare the bubble mixture for Ken. This activity that he treasured left his life right alongside his brother. Because the fun activity and the time he spent with his brother are the same.

In the dub:

Sam: Okay, it's all set to go! Ken: Hehe! Thanks, Sam! (Ken blows bubbles) Sam: Attaboy! Wow! Great! Ken: You try to do it now. (Ken hands the cup back to Sam) Sam: Uh, well, I'm not very good at blowing bubbles. Ken: Come on, Sam! There's nothing in this world that you can't do! Sam: I can do it okay but my technique isn't quite as good as yours is. Your bubbles come out perfect because you're gentle. I blow too hard and mine pop right away. (Sam tries to blow a bubble and pops) Ken: Huh? Where'd you go? Sam! Come back! Please! Ken (V.O.): But Sam won't come back. He's gone forever. Maybe I am too.

This is pretty good. They don't say that Ken blows bubbles "kindly" so the reference to Ken's Crest is lost. But that's not a thing so it's no wonder they don't say it. They were kinda screwed on this point by the choice to translation 優しい yasashii as "kindness" a few episodes ago and we're in too deep to change it now.

With the benefit of hindsight, "Crest of Gentleness" or something might have worked better. But the dub does have a workaround to capture that comparison; There's just no room for it in this scene.

Finally, in his room, Ken wakes up.

Father: Ken! Mother: You're awake! Ken: Who are you?

Ken's words hit his parents like a truck. When they don't answer, he repeats the question.

Ken: Who are you? Mother: You don't recognize us? Father: (to Mother) Has he lost his memory? Ken: (thinking) No, I haven't lost my memory. What I meant to say was, "What do you people mean to me?" Mother: I can't believe he doesn't know who we are! Ken: (thinking) You don't know who I am either. Who are you guys? And who am I? Who? Who am I?

Ken's spoken words sound like amnesia but he's really having an existential crisis that he doesn't know how to convey. He may be physically awake but he's still lost. He still hasn't found his heart.

In the dub:

Father: He's awake! Mother: Ohhh! Are you alright? Ken: Who are you? (Parents gasp, no answer) Ken: Well? Mother: Ken, don't you recognize who we are? Father: It's amnesia! Ken: (thinking) No, I didn't lose my memory. I lost my heart. And until I find it, I don't know who I am or who anyone else is either. Mother: How could he not know who his own parents are? Ken: (thinking) You don't know me either. How could you? I don't know myself. Who am I?

I think the phrasing of "I lost my heart and I won't know who anyone is until I find it" makes this line a little harder to parse, but the idea is the same.

A point I want to bring up is that both versions of the episode have been using "heart" to encompass a person's complete emotional and mental and spiritual identity, the fullness of who that person is.

This is a Japanese definition that we don't really use in English; We tend to think of someone's "heart" to just mean their capacity for love, compassion, and empathy. But in Japan, your "heart" is the fullness of your consciousness and identity and emotional breadth. But despite the different meanings, it gets translated 1:1 here and in other Japanese media such as Kingdom Hearts.

For a western comprehension, we would consider that his soul. He's trying to find his soul. He is doing what English speakers refer to as "soul-searching" and, until he finishes, he won't really be able to quantify these relationships he has.

The point is that he knows objectively who his parents are. But he's trying to figure out his identity, to figure out who he is on an emotional level, and only once he has done that will he be able to define the significance that these people have to that person.

Mother: It's okay. Don't strain yourself. We're just glad that you're safe. Father: Ken, we might have pushed you to be like Osamu without realizing it. That was wrong of us. You're your own person and we couldn't see the great qualities you possess. Mother: Please forgive us and get better soon. Ken: (thinking) What are they saying? I don't understand. I don't know what they mean. Father: Osamu isn't with us anymore, remember? Ken: (thinking) That's right... Osamu-niisan isn't here anymore.... Mother: (crying) He's dead! Osamu-chan is gone! So all we want is for you to be yourself, Ken-chan! Ken: (thinking) She's crying. Why? I'm the one who's sad.

Tears begin to flow down Ken's face too at that remark. He reaches up and touches his face, feeling the tears flowing down it.

Ken: (thinking) Tears? There are tears in my eyes too? Why? Why am I crying? If nothing else, maybe I can share the sorrow of losing Osamu-niisan with these people.

This might be the first time the whole family has ever really stopped to grieve Osamu. Being able to use Ken as a replacement goldfish meant that they didn't really have to. But now the reality of Osamu's death is settling in not just on Ken but on his parents too.

Weirdly enough, Ken packing his things and ragequitting into the Digital World might just have been the shock to the system that his family needed to understand how badly they were hurting their son.

In the dub:

Mother: Ken, don't worry, you're safe now. We'll find you the finest doctor in the world! Father: Ken, while you were sleeping, your mother and I realized that we tried to make you more like Sam without really knowing it. We're very sorry. We should have seen the son we had instead of spending our time constantly looking for the son that we lost.

That is a brilliant adaptation of that line. I love it.

Mother: Forgive us! All we're asking for is a second chance! Ken: (thinking) I don't know what it is they want from me. How can I forgive them when I don't understand what they did? Father: Sam is gone forever. We know that. But we don't want to lose you too. Mother: (crying) Just be Ken. Just be your sweet self. Ken, just try! Just try! Please, for me.... Ken: (thinking) Why is she crying? I don't understand. When I'm sad, I just go numb. (Ken starts crying) Ken: (thinking) Wait, there's tears in my eyes too. Why am I crying? Is my heart closer than I think? Maybe these people and I can share the pain and sorrow of losing Sam together.

Aside from the part where Ken's mom tries to throw money at him, this is really good.

Cut to later in the day. Ken's standing by the living room window, staring out into the city.

Ken: (thinking) I'm hollow... Because I don't know where my heart has gone.

Mom approaches from behind.

Mother: Ken-chan, dinner's ready. Ken: ... Mother: Ken-chan?

Ken's mom places a hand on his shoulder, which breaks him from his trance. He turns and looks at her.

Mother: It's okay. You don't have to force yourself.

Then Ken spots a framed photo of Osamu on the table in front of him. Without a word, he picks it up and takes a closer look at it. His eyes somber and quivering. Mom also tears up behind him.

Mother: Osamu-chan's death affected you the most, Ken-chan.

Mom's still being patient with Ken and trying to give him the space he needs.

In the dub:

Ken: (thinking) I'm still searching. I know the answer is out there. I just have to figure out where to look. (Mother approaches) Mother: Ken, honey, dinner's ready. (Mom grabs Ken's shoulder) Mother: Hungry? (Ken turns around) Mother: Oh, sorry I startled you. It's okay; You can eat whenever you're ready. (Ken picks up Sam's picture) Mother: That's Sam. He was your brother. (Ken and Mom tear up) Mother: We were all devastated after the accident, but you were the one affected the most.

The extra line explaining Sam kinda makes sense since Ken's parents think he has amnesia. But it also kinda doesn't because they were already talking to him about Sam one scene ago.

Back in Ken's room, he sits down at his computer desk to find a startling sight.

The Dark Digivice and the Crest of Kindness are both waiting for him on his keyboard. Suddenly, Ken flashes back on Wormmon. Two shots of Wormmon pleading with him not to go through with Chimeramon and then one shot of Wormmon with tears in his eyes, the moment before he tackled the Digimon Kaiser into the desert sands.

Ken: (mournful) Wormmon....

Ken stands up suddenly, forcefully. Filled with more determination than we've seen him this episode.

Mom knocks at the door.

Mother: Ken-chan? Would you like some tea?

She opens the door, bringing a plate with some snacks and a teacup into Ken's room.

Mother: (startled) KEN-CHAN!?!?

But the room is empty. With no explanation to his parents, Ken's gone missing once more. Here, have some more trauma.

In the dub, Ken has a line when he sees the Dark Digivice and Crest of Kindness.

Ken: I know what that is!

His flashbacks also have dialogue in them.

Wormmon: Please, Master. Wormmon: Listen to me. Wormmon: Where's the Ken I used to love? (End flashback) Ken: Oh, Wormmon... I know where to look now! (Knock at the door) Mother: Ken, dear, I made you a nice cup of tea! (Mom comes in) Mother: Ken? Where are you? Not again!

Probably goes without saying at this point but that dialogue isn't what Wormmon was saying in those flashbacks. They are, however, an accurate summation of what he was expressing.

In the Digital World, Ken wanders.

He starts out in a gray, craggy area.

Ken: Where is my heart?

Then he roams a desert.

Ken: I want to find my heart.

And then wanders through a grassy region. There, he comes across a sight that's familiar to fans of the first series: The Village of Beginnings.

Ken: What's this?

From a cradle by Ken's feet, a friendly Poyomon answers.

Poyomon: This is the Village of Beginnings. This is where Digimon who perish are reincarnated as Digitama. Ken: Reincarnated? Wormmon too!? Poyomon: Every Digimon reincarnates as a Digitama.

You know, Takeru and Hikari probably could have told you about that. But you've been an absolute piece of shit and everyone hates you. In any case, a reinvigorated Ken races off into the field of Digitama to find his Partner again.

It's a subtle visual representation but Ken's physical journey from dull, lifeless gray to the vibrant colors of the Field of Beginnings obviously represents his metaphysical trip back towards finding his heart.

In the dub, Ken's lines aren't spaced between regions. He narrates over the whole journey.

Ken: (thinking) I know this place. I've been here before. This is where I have to look. I know that this is where I will find my heart. (Ken arrives at Primary Village) Ken: (thinking) Digi-Eggs. Hundreds of them. What is this place!?

The dub takes its third commercial break upon Ken's arrival here. They also play him out with danger music, like Ken's just stumbled upon some sort of perilous cliffhanger. But it's a nursery full of babies so it doesn't really work. XD

Weird-ass choice, dub.

Anyway, the cliffhanger of Ken entering Primary Village is swiftly resolved when we come back via Ken... being in Primary Village. Which is harmless.

Poyomon: This is the Primary Village! Ken: Primary Village? Poyomon: That's right! Ken: Huh?

Awkwardly, Ken doesn't realize he's being spoken to until he's already responded once because the lip flaps he uses to respond are the ones for "What's this?"

Poyomon: This is the place where all Digimon are reborn and they come back as Digi-Eggs! Ken: Reborn!? Wormmon too?! Poyomon: That's right! Digimon never die! They just get reconfigured. Ken: (relieved) Hahaha!

They reincarnate, but yes. Digimon comes from Japan where reincarnation is a core facet of belief in one of the two major religions that dominate that region.

The dub is not from a region where reincarnation is accepted and normalized, however. So they interpret this simply as "Digimon never die". But unlike the first anime, they aren't saying it to delegitimize character deaths.

They let us grieve Wormmon and only now are making the "Digimon don't actually die though" point at the portion of the story that's actually about Wormmon's renewal. So, good on them for that restraint.

Ken sprints into the field of Digitama, but then slows to a stop. The field is vast and the Digitama are many.

Ken: I don't know... Which one is Wormmon? In the same way I don't know who I am, how am I supposed to tell which one is Wormmon's Digitama?

Thank you for explaining the symbolism, Ken.

Suddenly, a nearby baby Digimon speaks up.

Yuramon: Aren't you the Digimon Kaiser!? What do you plan on doing with Wormmon's Digitama!?

Before Ken can answer, the Yuramon tackles him. Ken puts up his arms to shield himself and the Yuramon bounces off his shoulder, but the emotional damage outweighs the physical.

Ken: The DIgimon Kaiser? That's right... I am the Digimon Kaiser. The person who did those awful things. I'm responsible for Wormmon's death. What am I even trying to accomplish by searching for Wormmon's Digitama!?

More babies in the cribs surrounding Ken answer that question for him.

Punimon: If you find his Digitama, then Wormmon will come back. Then you'll be free from your responsibility for Wormmon's death! Free from the guilt of causing someone to die. Is that it? Botamon: You coward. Wormmon would never reincarnate for an underhanded creep like you! Ken: Wormmon won't come back? ...that's right, Osamu-niisan never came back either.

...does Wormmon have a choice? This is the first I'm hearing of Digimon being able to choose to remain dead.

I really love all the characterization in this scene. I love that they don't pull punches with Ken's responsibility. Because... yes. Wormmon didn't just die for Ken. Ken caused his death. Ken abused him, neglected him, ignored him, created the thing that killed him, and was cheering it on while it did. It is 100% Ken's fault that Wormmon is dead.

This episode has primed us to sympathize with and better understand Ken. But even so, you can also feel where they're coming from when the babies form a line of solidarity against Wormmon's abuser and tell Ken to go jump off a bridge. He is aggressively unwelcome in the Village of Beginnings. I'm surprised Elecmon hasn't charged in and powerbombed him.

In the dub:

Ken: Which Egg is Wormmon's!? It could be any one of them! I can't remember. What did his Egg look like!?

Shot in the dark but you probably don't remember because you never saw it. None of the DigiDestined have ever been present for their Partner's first hatching. Well, Taichi kind of. And Takeru was there for the second.

Ken: I don't know which one of these Digi-Eggs is Wormmon's! Just like I don't remember who I am or where I'm from.... Yuramon: You're the Digimon Emperor, aren't you? Ken: Huh? Yuramon: I'd recognize you even without your fancy clothes! HIYAAAGH!!! (Yuramon attacks Ken) Ken: Huh? The Digimon Emperor? ...that's right, I was the Digimon Emperor! I've done so many terrible things! I was responsible for Wormmon! If I would have realized the truth about the Digi-World sooner, Wormmon would still be here with me today! Punimon: You don't want to find Wormmon's Digi-Egg because you miss him. You just don't want to feel guilty anymore over causing his destruction. After all you did, we're not going to welcome you back with open arms even if we had 'em! Botamon: What do you think's going to happen? Wormmon's just going to hatch so he can be treated badly by you all over again? Ken: Wormmon won't come back to me? Just like my brother Sam didn't come back to me after he left....

You can feel the threading of that needle. They can't say "killed", they can't say "died", they can't say "caused him to die". But they still do a pretty good job of conveying all the sentiments here, and only have to cheat with "destroyed" once.

Ken unpacks what the babies have told him.

Ken: (thinking) That's the reality I didn't want to accept. Osamu-niisan is dead. Wormmon is dead. They're dead because of me. Niisan, who I hated more than anything. Wormmon, who I thought was the most worthless thing in the world.

Ken drops to his knees under the relentless barrage of emotional damage.

Ken: I'm the one who's worthless. Ken: (thinking) I'm worthless. I'm a speck. And now I'm grieving over Wormmon's death. What if I was the one who died? Wormmon would grieve for me, of course. Wormmon might be the only one who'd grieve. Ken: And yet I.... Ken: (thinking) I lost Wormmon to my own destructive habits!

Ken flashes back on Wormmon's death. A silent flashback to Wormmon saying his last words and then disintegrating in Ken's arms.

Note the return of "What if I died?" Yeah, we're not done with that topic. Here, in his grief, Ken proposes that Wormmon is the only person who would mourn for him, which makes what Ken did to Wormmon so much worse.

In the dub:

Ken: (thinking) This is a truth I don't want to face. Wormmon's not coming back. Sam's not coming back either. I caused both of them to go away. I hated my brother for getting all of the attention. I hated Wormmon because I felt he wasn't worthy of me. Ken: The truth is, I wasn't worthy of him! Ken: (thinking) These hands... These hands have caused so much pain. Sure, put a textbook in them and I'm a genius. But put a whip in them and I'm the evil Digimon Emperor. How could I have allowed this to go so far? If I only had the chance.... Ken: I'd say sorry, Sam! I'M SORRY, WORMMON!!! (Flashback) Wormmon: Good... bye, Ken. (Wormmon dies) Ken: (choked up) Wormmon, no....

As usual, the dubbed flashback has dialogue. That is what they said in the original, too.

Ken clarifies why he hated Sam so much in this version, though you'd think he'd also be mad about the hitting.

The dub isn't touching the "If I died" point with a ten-foot pole. Gave that topic a wide berth and instead starting wandered off to talk more generally about the wickedness of the Digimon Emperor.

Returning from flashback, the babies have more to say.

Punimon: You can't take back what you did! Once something is done, it can't ever be undone. Botamon: You can't just act like the past didn't happen. It's all part of you. The good stuff and the bad stuff is all a part of you. Ken: I have to accept that it's all part of me and live with it.

Dropping to his hands and knees now, Ken's tears drip onto the village's colorful nursery grass.

Ken: That I'm the Digimon Kaiser. That Nii-san is dead. That I caused Wormmon to die. That's fine... I can do that... Because, Wormmon, just the memory of you being with me will give me the strength.

Fuck, now I'm crying. T_T Ken deserves every part of this verbal dunking but I can still be sad about it.

Suddenly, Ken realizes something and looks up.

Ken: That's right! Wormmon, you've always been with me. Back then, I used Osamu-niisan's Digivice to explore the Digital World with you. Did I forget these memories? Or, rather, did I force myself to suppress them? But why? Why did I want to forget!?

Yep, we aren't done delving into Ken's past just yet. It's time to find out what exactly happened on that day he first entered the Digital World.

In the dub:

Punimon: It's too late for you now! You can't turn back time! What's done is done! You've made your bed, now lie in it! I'd go on but I can't think of any more cliches!

Really. Wow. Dub Team does not like this part of the episode. I'm not even going to call that an Abridged Parody-ass line; That is a Nostalgia Critic-ass line.

Botamon: The point is, you can't run away from the past! You've caused enough damage here. Why don't you crawl back under the Control Spire you came out of! Ken: Can't I start over? (Ken drops to his hands and knees and starts crying) Ken: I know that I've caused you all a lot of pain as the Digimon Emperor but I'm truly sorry now. Please forgive me! The cruel things I've done in the past won't ever leave me but I've got to move on with my life. I promise to concentrate on the good things in the past, not the evil. (Ken suddenly looks up in shock) Ken: I'll use my memories of Sam and of Wormmon to make me stronger... But I can't seem to remember any of the good memories. Only the bad ones keep playing in my head over and over again. I've blocked out the good ones. I must force myself to remember the beginning! I must think back to the first time I used Sam's Digivice to go to the Digital World!

The dub version of this speech is centered more broadly on Ken's penance for the crimes of the Digimon Emperor, rather than his personal relationships with Wormmon and Osamu. My favorite part is when he says, "I promise to concentrate on the good things and not the evil" which is literally the opposite of "The good and bad are both a part of you and you have to accept that".

Original Ken is undergoing a psychological self-examination and rebuilding the broken foundation for who he is as a person. Dub Ken is praying to the babies for redemption, and it feels more hollow as a result.

I also love that he says "I've got to move on with my life" to the people he's frantically apologizing too. "Look, I'm really sorry and I'll keep being sorry for another five minutes or so but then I'm over it, yo. I can really only spend so much time making this up to you."

Entering into the final flashback of the episode, we find Ken exploring a desert with an older boy by his side.

The boy is not identified but that's Ryo Akiyama from the Tamer video games. We're seeing a flashback to something that happened during Ken's time costarring in Tag Tamers.

The show leaves him hanging out there as an "If you know, you know" detail.

While they're walking, Ken accidentally triggers a random encounter and a Wild Pokemon Appears.

Gazimon: GAZIIIIII!!! Wormmon: LOOK OUT, KEN-CHAN!!!

A Gazimon explodes from the sand screaming their name for some reason and lunging at Ken. Wormmon tackles them in the chest, knocking them flat on their back but taking himself out with the recoil.

Gazimon is a Child-stage-- No, we're not doing any of that this episode. While the Gazimon scampers off, Ken rushes to his Partner's side.

Ken: WORMMON!!!

I love how Wormmon does win that fight but still in the most pathetic way possible. Ken appreciated him more back then but not because he was any better at vanquishing Ken's foes.

I also love how Wormmon beating back a fierce opponent and doing more damage to himself than his foe but nonetheless prevailing and saving Ken is a miniature version of the Chimeramon battle itself. This scene is a meaningful parallel.

In the dub:

Gazimon: YAAAAAAAGH-- (Wormmon tackles Gazimon and wipes them both out) Ken: Wormmon!

Gazimon doesn't yell anything in particular and Wormmon doesn't say anything when he intervenes.

Hurrying to Wormmon's side, Ken cradles his Partner.

Ken: Wormmon... Wormmon! Wormmon: (weakly) I'm okay... That was nothing....

I should hope so. It was your attack. XD

Ken: Wormmon.... Wormmon: I'm so glad I'm your Partner, Ken-chan. Ken: (gasp) Wormmon: Because you're so kind. Ken: Kind?

Ken flashbacks-within-a-flashback to blowing bubbles on the balcony with Osamu.

Osamu: You're the best at blowing soap bubbles, Ken. It's because you blow them so gently. (End flashback) Wormmon: But kindness alone isn't enough. You have to get stronger. Or else.... Ken: Or else? Wormmon: Or else you'll be crushed by your own kindness. Ken: (gasp) Wormmon: Ken-chan, that Digivice you have is yours. It's not anyone else's; It belongs to you. Just like how your heart belongs to you and only you. Don't forget that. And... Ken: And...? Wormmon: Don't run away.

Ever the insightful one, Wormmon pre-emptively cuts through all the bullshit surrounding "Osamu's" Digivice and in the process makes a meaningful statement about Ken himself. And even references Wizarmon's prophecy too while he's at it, because Wizarmon also fucking said that kindness alone is not enough.

It's just a shame that Ken got all of Wormmon's advice smacked out of his hand after he went home.

Wormmon is the Gabumon of this series. He has to do a lot of intensive emotional labor for the sake of a Partner who resists personal growth and is more stubborn than a bag of rocks. But eventually he starts to get there.

In the dub:

Ken: Wormmon! You okay? Wormmon: (weakly) I'm okay. It will take a lot more than him to beat me. Ken: Right! Wormmon: Ken, I'm really glad that I'm your Digimon and we're Partners. Ken: Huh? Wormmon: You're gentle and kind. That's why I like you. Ken: Huh? I'm gentle? (Flashback) Sam: Your bubbles come out perfect because you're gentle. I blow too hard and mine pop right away. (End Flashback)

I really like the way Wormmon conflates gentleness and kindness here in order to recapture the element of 優しい yasashii that was supposed to be a part of the bubble-blowing scene.

They couldn't make Ken's Crest virtue pop in that scene, but they use this flashback to have Wormmon harken back to it and go, "Actually, that was about his Crest virtue," retroactively.

Wormmon: But being gentle is not enough. You have to be strong as well. Otherwise, Ken.... Ken: Otherwise what? Wormmon: Your gentleness and kindness will become overpowered by those who are evil. Ken: Oh. Wormmon: It happens.

XD It happens. I don't think they knew what to make of the phrase "You'll be crushed by your own kindness".

To be honest, I'm not 100% on it either but I think Wormmon's referring to the exhausting effects of empathy overwhelm. Which a lot of us are familiar with these days.

Wormmon: The Digivice that you have belongs to you and not Sam. You're DigiDestined and no one can take that away from you. Evil forces will try to tell you otherwise but you can't listen to them! Never forget who you are! Ken: I won't! Wormmon: Do you promise?

They're roping in a lot of "evil forces" for this version of the speech. But at least they don't dismiss Wormmon's statements as "saying cliches" and refuse to engage with any of it. I'm still salty about that.

Returning from the flashback, Ken unpacks what he's just remembered.

Ken: It wasn't true that I didn't have anything. It was just easier to think that. Easier to resent Nii-san for it.

Ken folds his arms over his chest and cries.

Ken: I'm sorry, Osamu-niisan. I'm sorry, Wormmon. For the rest of my life, I'll accept those things that can't be undone.

This is where Ken finishes his delve into his past: With the acceptance that he can't go back. He can't change what happened to him, nor can he undo the way he felt in those moments or the things he's done to others.

In the same way that his parents can't go back and be better parents to their sons retroactively, Ken can't erase the way he resented Osamu. He can't erase the things he's done. He can't unkill Wormmon*. Those things happened and are a part of him now, and that's what he has to live with.

*Well, kind of. Wormmon is going to reincarnate like every Digimon, but Ken still can't take back what he said and did to Wormmon that led to that moment. Those things still happened.

In any case, this is the answer to the question of Ken's heart. This is Ken's heart. Everything that's been unpacked up to this point. The neglect and abuse inflicted on him and the cruelty that's come from him, but also the love and compassion that's been shared with him. Everything that's happened to bring him to this point is the totality of Ken's identity.

This revelation causes his Crest of Kindness to suddenly activate. Ken, startled, takes it out and stares at it. The one baby that doesn't hate his guts explains.

Poyomon: That's your Crest! Ken: My Crest?

Useful. Thanks.

As Ken's Crest glows, so too does a single Digitama across the nursery field. That same pink energy, the holy light of Ken's Kindness, lights it up. Inside the egg, an anxietous Baby Digimon waits.

Baby: Come and find me, Ken-chan! Hurry up and find me! Hurry! HURRY!!!

Ken does not hurry. He slowly approaches the Digitama and inspects it carefully.

Ken: This Digitama... Why is it glowing?

Good question. I'm sure there are many probable answers to that. Sometimes Digitama glow randomly. You should probably pay it no mind.

In the dub:

Ken: I broke my promise because I did forget. My whole life, I was trying to be someone else. Whether it was acting tough as the Digimon Emperor or trying to be more like Sam. (Ken breaks down crying) Ken: I've never been Ken. But I'm going to spend the rest of my life being the kind and gentle person that Wormmon wanted me to be!

Dub Ken's epiphany is that he needs to stop faking his personality and just be himself. Everything he's done as the Digimon Emperor was insincere and was just Ken "acting tough" out of insecurity.

There's an odd implication there that I don't know if it was intentional. That Ken started "acting tough" after Wormmon told him he needs to toughen up so he can throw hands at anyone who tries to take advantage of him kinda makes it seem like the Digimon Emperor is Wormmon's fault too.

I wonder if they meant to imply that?

(Ken's Crest glows) Ken: What's this? Poyomon: That's your Crest of Kindness! Ken: Are you sure it's mine? (Digi-Egg starts glowing) Baby: Ken, please find me! Please find me soon! Ken: That DigiEgg is different from the others.... Baby: Hurry, Ken! Ken: Something tells me I've seen it before. It's glowing just like the Crest of Kindness!

I don't know what's telling you that because you haven't.

The dub explicitly calls it the Crest of Kindness while Poyomon only calls it a Crest in the original. Though it's worth noting that we do know by this point what Ken's Crest is. Wormmon said it two episodes ago in his final moments.

Ken reaches out and grasps the Digitama. It glows even brighter and then pops, turning into a cradle with a little baby Leafmon inside of it.

NEW BABY JUST DROPPED

Leafmon is, of course, named for the leafy tail appendage that they use to shyly conceal themselves. Of course Wormmon's baby form would be a timid little thing.

Ken: Worm.. mon...? Leafmon: Ken-chan?

Ken starts crying at the sight of his reborn Partner.

Leafmon: You came looking for my egg?

Ken nods, then picks Leafmon up out of the cradle.

Ken: Yeah, I did. I searched everywhere for it. Leafmon: That's great! I knew you'd come find me! Ken: Wormmon.... Leafmon: What is it, Ken-chan? Ken: Thank you for being born.

This last line, "生まれて来てくれてありがとう Umarete kite kurete arigatou", is a Japanese expression that means pretty much exactly what it says. It's a way of expressing gratitude to someone for the positive influence that their existence has had on your life.

Wormmon tears up too at Ken's expression of fondness, and Ken embraces his Partner.

In the dub:

Leafmon: Hi, Ken! I'm Leafmon, the Baby form of Wormmon. (Ken cries, nods, and picks up Leafmon) Ken: I kept searching for you! I never stopped! Leafmon: Ken, thank you. You took a little detour in getting there but you kept your promise. Ken: What promise? Leafmon: Being kind and gentle. Ken: Thank you for giving me a second chance.

What do you mean, "What promise?" You just lamented like a minute ago that you broke your promise.

In the original, this conversation is about Ken and Wormmon's emotional bond. Leafmon is initially surprised that Ken came to find him, which makes sense given how Ken's treated him up to this point. Three episodes ago, the very idea that the Digimon Kaiser would care if Wormmon was gone was laughable.

But then Leafmon takes it back and admits that he had faith Ken would come. Despite everything Ken has become, Leafmon still believes in the boy he knew all those years ago. And, in this moment, that faith is rewarded with Ken's gratitude.

In the dub, this conversation is about Ken's atonement. "Thank you for being born" has become "Thank you for giving me a second chance". Ken intends to try harder to live up to Wormmon's expectations for him, and Leafmon acknowledges that he's on the right path.

While Ken hugs Leafmon, he thinks about the other relationships in his life and responds to a question he asked earlier, about who would grieve if he was the one who died.

Ken (V.O.): I'm so glad that Wormmon's alive. But is Wormmon the only person who's glad that I'm alive? No, of course not.

Back in the human world, we find Ken's mom weeping in the living room while his dad tries to console her.

Mother: HE MIGHT NOT COME BACK THIS TIME!!! Father: (worried) Don't be ridiculous! Of course he'll come back!

Suddenly, the door to Ken's room opens and he enters the living room.

Mother: KEN-CHAN!?!? Father: Where have you been!? Mother: We thought you disappeared again!

Stunned, Ken watches his mother cry.

Ken: (thinking) She's crying... Mom's crying because I went away... Ken: ...Mama.... Father: What was that? Mother: What did you say? "Mama"? Did you say "Mama"!? Ken: Mama... Thank you for giving birth to me.

Overwhelmed by emotion, Ken's mom pulls him into a hug and cries with relief.

Ken: Papa... I'm sorry I made you worry.

Ken's dad responds with a silent but affectionate pat on the head.

This, in turn, is the answer to the other question. The question of who would even miss Ken if he died. A question that's haunted him since those early days, that we already saw the answer to when he did erase himself from this world, but that Ken only now understands.

Please pay no attention to the continuity error, in that Ken's room was presented as being at the end of a hallway in previous episodes but now it opens directly into the living room.

In the dub:

Ken (V.O.): I wonder... If I was the one who was gone instead of Sam, would Wormmon be the only one who would miss me? Mmm... No, I don't think so. (Cut to crying parents) Mother: This time he might not come back at all! Father: Don't say such things. He'll be back! I'm sure of it! (Ken returns) Mother: KEN!!! Father: Ken! Where have you been!? Mother: We've been so worried about you! Ken: (thinking) Now I understand why she's crying. She missed me. Just like I missed Wormmon. Ken: Mama.... Father: What... did you say? Mother: He said "Mama". That means... he knows me! Ken: Mama! I'll give you that second chance if I can have one. (Mom hugs Ken) Ken: Thanks for being such great parents.

They are not. Like. Half the point of this episode is how badly their parenting has damaged their children. Weird thing to say right after offering a second chance, which implicitly acknowledges that they fucked up.

I actually really like the "I'll give you a second chance if I can have one" line but the follow-up kinda ruins it.

The dub lays the parallel here bare: As Ken's parents have fucked up their stewardship of their son, so too has Ken fucked up his stewardship of Wormmon and of the Digital World more broadly. These two things are not exactly the same. But they are the same kind of things.

The way Ken feels for the loss of Wormmon is the same as what his parents feel for their losses of Osamu and Ken. And as Ken gets a second chance to do better by Wormmon, so too do his parents get a second chance to do better by Ken. The dub drags this subtext out into literal text and they are right, that is what the episode is saying.

But their attempt at figuring out an organic English-sounding translation for "Thank you for giving birth to me" leaves much to be desired. XD

While Ken embraces his family, we close in on the photo of Osamu on the table under the windowsill.

Ken (V.O.): For the first time, I feel like I can now say this, Osamu-niisan: "Thank you for everything".

As he says this, we close on a shot of Leafmon hiding behind the bedroom door. Leafmon in the human world for the very first time, finally welcome as a part of Ken's real human life.

In the dub:

Ken (V.O.): And now I can finally say it: Thank you, Sam, for helping me find my heart. Narrator: Now that Ken is no longer the Digimon Emperor, will he join the DigiDestined? Find out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!

I was all set to be like "Fuck you, get out of here, Narrator! We're having a moment!" But actually, the Narrator doesn't try to make a spooky cliffhanger out of this like he usually does and instead asks a fairly valid question. So you get a pass this time, Dub Narrator.

So, did we find out the answer to last episode's question: Is T.K. right about the DigiDestined having a new enemy?

Well... It wasn't a big part of the episode but that email Ken got sure was ominous. So that probably counts. I'm gonna give this to 'em only on the thinnest possible margin.

Assessment: Okay, yeah, I can see why we needed to go on wacky piss adventures before doing this. This episode is complicated as fuck.

It doesn't really absolve Ken of the things that he's done but it also doesn't purport to. It says in no uncertain terms that those things are a part of him, just as his family's emotional abuse and some physical abuse from Osamu are, and just as the good times he shared with Osamu as well are. It's all part of the greater whole that makes up Ichijouji Ken, a Greater 'Hole.

You can even see parallels in the way Ken treated his Digimon versus his own upbringing. In particular, there's something interesting in the way Ken's parents neglected him in favor of his exceptional brother and how it relates to Ken's own snubbing of Wormmon in favor of first Agumon and then the exceptional Chimeramon.

Ken took the worst parts of his perception of his parents and his brother, and he magnified them in the Digimon Kaiser. He learned it from watching them and passed it along but without any of the nuance. There were good times as well as bad with Osamu and his parents, but he distilled only the bad into the Kaiser, the manifestation of Ken cracking under the pressure of becoming Osamu's replacement goldfish.

This episode goes a long way towards humanizing Ken while keeping its focus limited on Ken's backstory and relationship with Wormmon. We do see in his encounter with Punimon and Botamon that he despite the progress he makes here, he is very much unwelcome in the Digital World and understandably so.

But his willingness to accept himself, to accept the totality of himself, nonetheless sees both Ken and his parents rewarded with a second chance to be better for the people they love.

[sketchingstars03]

Mouthwashing AU?!???

CONTENT WARNING IF YOU WANNA CHECK OUT MOUTHWASHING FOR YOURSELF, THIS GAME IS SUPER DARK. SPECIFIC WARNINGS UNDER THE CUT

So one day I was playing on VR chat as a Pikachu on the Mouthwashing map and it just, turned into a Pokémon AU.

So welcome to the “Everything’s The Same But Curly Has A Pikachu AU”!

Premise is: it’s a Pokémon AU of Mouthwashing but only Curly’s partner Pikachu was allowed on board the ship. And thus I put this innocent little creature through hell.

Why Curly as her trainer? Because Pikachu is his canon favourite Pokémon.

Don’t worry Tulparchu spends most of her time with Anya after the crash (well… her free time away from a certain character who proclaimed himself her de facto trainer now that her old one is out of commission, anyways)

Speaking of canon favourites, they may not be on the ship but these are the partner Pokémon of the rest of the crew!

Anya: Glaceon (she keeps photos of it on her phone to look at. It’s very spoiled <3)

Swansea: Herdier (It’s currently staying with his family while he’s on board the ship)

Daisuke: Shiny Midnight Lycanroc, who he nicknamed “Weregarurumon” (I imagine Digimon is still a fictional property in this universe lol)

Jimmy: A Rattata he long abandoned in a PC years before the main story even takes place. Didn’t think himself cut out to be a trainer (he barely tried)

couldn’t even take responsibility for a Rattata. Also no way in hell am I giving this man a Mega Rayquaza

The AU has like, 3 endings and 1 spin off scenario, which I’ll get into under the cut bc game spoilers

Other than that, I hope you like this slightly (very VERY slightly) more positive AU for the Tulpar crew! The presence of a Pikachu is very therapeutic (still can’t fix everything though)

So once again content warnings and spoilers under the cut

Game Warnings: Sexual Assault, Unwanted Pregnancy, Abuse, Murder, Manipulation, Graphic depictions of dead bodies, Depictions of Hallucination

The game is very much a psychological horror

So the three endings are as follows:

Canon Ending: Everything happens the same as the canon game but with Pikachu along for the ride. She confronts Jimmy at the very end and is shot dead and her body is put in the cryopod with Curly (“I fixed it” no you didn’t)

Good Ending: Same as the Canon Ending except Pikachu wins the final confrontation, shocking Jimmy to death. She lives out a few days just her and Curly before deciding to put him in the cryopod herself. She ends up being the one put inside instead (it’s too late for her trainer, but not for her)

Best Ending: Pikachu shocks Jimmy to death on accident months before the end of the game. The crew have a substantially better time (still sucks though), but with Pikachu as honorary “Captain” (it’s just a title but she takes her role VERY seriously). In the end her and Daisuke both take the cryopod, and end up being rescued years later. They were still the only survivors, and so Daisuke takes in all of his crewmate’s Pokémon (including discovering Jimmy’s long-abandoned Rattata)

There is still one alt scenario I have in mind for this AU, and that is one where Rattata is taken out of the PC and brought on board the ship too. Don’t worry he doesn’t behave like his trainer, in fact he also has to deal with Jimmy’s abuse (it’s mostly verbal)

Pikachu and Rattata’s relationship dynamic? Think “I Always Wanted A Brother” from the Mufasa movie (movie is mid from what I hear but this particular song still slaps IMO. Boycott Disney still)

[zeroarmsgrani]

I only just found you blog and you’re amazing for having the dawn and dusk map on your pinned post

i'm sorry anon, this was from september and i had forgot to respond! thank you! digimon dawn and dusk will always be important to me ;u;

[digimon-v]

Finally beat Digimon Adventure PSP! I gathered all the pre-episode bits and combined them together into simple to read (hopefully) maps.

1) File Island

2) File Island, broken by Devimon

3) Japan, Tokyo/Shibuya/Odaiba area

4) Server Continent

5) Spiral Mountain

6) Subspace, with Apokarimon

7) Digital Dungeon, where Tai meets the rest of the goggle heads

[low-polygon-count]

Shell Beach and Plug Cape - Digimon World 3 - 2003

[otakween]

Digimon World Data Squad - Final Thoughts

Another Digimon game defeated 😉 This one felt kind of like a knock off of the Tales of series in its presentation (although it has turn based fighting). They're both Bandai Namco, so not much of a stretch there. It's one of those games that's objectively kinda bad but still manages to be enjoyable despite its flaws.

Despite the localized name, it is NOT a part of the Digimon World series. I guess it's considered a standalone. Kind of a side story to the Savers/Data Squad anime.

Notes:

This game took me slightly over 17 hours to beat over 3 weeks. Really the time it takes to beat is inflated because the game throws a random encounter at you every two seconds 😒 Also, I could have done all the bonus content, but I really didn't want to trudge through the dungeons again.

Speaking of the random encounters, not only do they slow the game to a crawl, they also make it pretty easy to become OP so long as you don't flee from any of them. Sometimes I enjoy the built in grinding, but this was a bit excessive. The "low/no encounter" items made things better late in the game but you also had to use a new one so frequently because they expired in like 1 minute!

Another frustration with this game is that the sound mixing was atrocious! It had the benefit of having all the English dub voices but that didn't matter because you couldn't freakin' hear anyone over the blaring music! It was painful to listen to and the subtitles were absolutely required. (There was no way to adjust the sound btw)

I was impressed by how much is voiced in this game, even though the dialogue is not that well written. I liked that they had victory dialogue at the end of each battle (that I could barely make out lol).

Graphics-wise I think the game looked pretty nice, typical PS2 JRPG with the bright colors from the show. The movement of the digimon in and out of battles was great. I really liked Agumon's "windmill arms" when he got all charged up. That was cute.

Weird af battle mechanics were not for me. Which skills you have access to are based on your digimon's mood and sometimes they want to be useless for whatever reason. A lot of the support/guard skills I also just never used because it was extremely unclear what they did? I couldn't find good online guides for this game either because it's not that popular lol.

(Gaogamon was the most annoying digimon in my party. He never wanted to be helpful in battle and his attacks were always super weak >:()

Speaking of weird mechanics, digivolution was weird too! I eventually realized that there was a hidden (never introduced/explained) menu that told you the requirements for each digivolution. I spent a long time thinking it was just random and getting shitty digimon every time I attempted a digivolve mid-battle. On the bright side, it was easy to just pick a digivolution you already unlocked and jump to it. That was convenient but felt really weird because digimon games have never let me do that before (at least not going to a higher level).

This entire game was insultingly easy until the final boss who suddenly got really hard (until I found a good strategy). All the other bosses just took one try. The game is very unbalanced because they give you so much money after each battle to the point where you can basically buy infinite recovery items.

Every single boss I fought (except one) had the same "VB" weakness? How lame is that? I was able to use the exact same strategy for ever boss and it made things very monotonous.

I liked the dungeon design/variety in locations, but the constant battles left me disoriented and made it hard to appreciate the view.

(Shout out to the walkthrough I found that had maps of each one. Made things a lot less painful.)

There was a handful of game exclusive characters that were fine I guess. I liked Kosaburo and his Biyomon, but Yuma and Kagura were pretty forgettable. They felt like the kind of characters you'd see that were made to appear once in a Digimon movie.

Speaking of Kagura, he was the (gasp) surprise villain (another reason this reminded me of a Tales of game tbh). He was pretty pathetic as a villain. They reveal at the end that his whole motive was being jealous of Thomas being better than him at everything. Like, okay, cool story bro.

Rolled my eyes big time when they revealed that the plot revolved around the seven deadly sins. How many times is Japanese media gonna pull out that cliche? I'm literally playing a completely unrelated visual novel rn (11eyes) that ALSO has a seven deadly sins plot. (Actually they came out 2 years apart from each other, so maybe it was a 2000s craze lol).

It seemed pretty unnecessarily cruel to kill off Nitta in front of his daughter like that. All the characters are just like "there there..." to her. I don't get why he had to die when Kagura didn't? (They were both "absorbed" by digimon) Makes no sense other than that Kagura had more plot armor.

I did feel pretty powerful defeating Lucemon Satan Mode at the end there. Unfortunately this is one of those games that goes back to the title screen after you beat the last boss. I've always thought that was a weird choice. Let me save!!

The Digimon video game franchise continues to be completely different with every release! Half of me is like "what's up with this chaotic mess!?" and the other half is like "yes!! Keep surprising me!" I'm really glad I'm playing the games alongside the anime. Feel like I'm on my way to becoming a Digimon scholar lol.

I give Digimon World Data Squad a 5 out of 10.

[digi-lov]

How to find local Digimon Card Game events near you!

First, you'll need the Bandai TCG + app. If you don't have it already, you'll need to create a Bandai Namco account.

You pick the Card Game youre playing, in this case Digimon, and the region you're in.

Then, on the home screen, you can see current events. You can either click events directly or go to event search.

It should apply a filter for your region automatically, but you can also freely edit and apply the search filters.

Then, you can look through the list of events and see if any place is close to you. You can preview the locations on google maps, if like me, location names alone don't tell you much.

When you click on details, you can see date and time, the store and location, event regulations, and further information on the way the store manages the event, such as entry fee, capacity etc.

From my experience, the stores take around 5 to 10 EUR (in Germany) for entry. Usually, this should guarantee a participation pack at the least, and more depending on how well you play.

But you will have to see these things for yourself, as it can differ from store to store, I would guess.

If you go to local events, try, if you can, to support the store, such as buying boosters or pre-ordering displays. I know they are cheaper to buy online, and no shame in that, but do not take online bought display boxes etc. and open them in the store.

(Yes we had this problem in our store, the owners felt very disrespected and almost decided to close the weekly Digimon events.)

Support small businesses. They have to pay for the location, for storage, for their employees, and have to earn a little more than just break even. They can not compete with online bulk buyers who have no physical store, etc. to pay for.

[nintendomariobros4]

Tai: Hmm.

Agumon: What'cha doing?

Tai: Making a map of the island. That way we'll know exactly where we are and where we've already been.

Izzy: Yes, that works in theory.

Izzy: What? Did you say map or mess?

Matt: No questions, man, you are the dude of doodles.

Sora: If you follow that map it'll lead right to a headache.

Tai: Well I can read it just fine and that's all that's really important!

Tai: Oh no, my map!

Agumon: Tai, come back! Forget the map!

Agumon: Pepper Breath!

Agumon: Sorry about your map.

Tai: That's ok. At least it didn't fall into the hands of the enemy!

Agumon: This place should be on your map.

Tai: Agumon, if you recall, you burned up my map.

Agumon: Oh yeah...

Digimon Adventure: Episode 8 (1999)

[lunadademon14]

I will say, magia exedra has been fun for the few days its been out! Skipped over the madoka magica story cause well, it felt rehashed, but i will be rereading though the magia reco portion cause that wouldn't hurt!

AND THE 3D PORTIONS TOOLK FUFHFHF FF I LOVE THEM its so fun seeing girls from magi reco get 3d modles and have all their attacks be in 3d

not to mention the familiars and the witches!! They squirm and its awsome and i love how they move in lower framerates to truely make them feel other worldly

Though, the powerleveling is truely kinda atrocious if you ask me, even if it might be too early game to tell. Hopefully they do something about the power leveling (though it might be because all of us have been powering through the bosses within 5 days)

Though...they could have definitely done something differently for the story...

Doesn't mean magi exedra Doesn't remind me of both magi reco and digimon rearise at the same time! Though, for magi exedra to remind me of my precious precious stupid game, its gotta be the pvp, the map style in the story mode, and i think the events too....its just...so familiar...i hope this game lasts a LONG time...

[paintedscales]

FFXIV Write 2024 :: Day Six

Prompt: Halcyon Characters: Nomin tal Kheeriin, Estinien Varlineau, Bayarmaa Sagahl Word Count: 788 Notes: Digimon AU

Master List

Visits from Estinien had become common enough at the hospital that when he passed it this time around, he had to take pause. As he stared at it, Gonetomon huffed in thought, his breath becoming steam in the winter air. Where Estinien would have taken the time to visit Nomin, he remembered the text he had received just a couple days ago.

‘I'm finally being released from the hospital!’

A small, gentle smile crept across Estinien’s lips as he shoved his hands into his pockets and continued on his way. His response at the time asked her if she had plans on celebrating at all.

‘I'd like to! But only if you celebrate with me!’

And so, Estinien received an address and a date. On the map on his phone, the address showed a grocery store front called ‘Buckthorn’ -- odd, but he doubted Nomin was leading him astray. He was thankful, however, that he only needed to use the bus as he normally would have coming to this part of town.

Passing the hustle and bustle of the daytime hours, Estinien eventually found his way to the unmistakable storefront. He had never been here before -- it looked like a humble grocery market. Pulling on the door, he and Gonetomon stepped inside as the electric bell signaled his entry.

“Welcome to Buckthorn!” one of the employees called out. Estinien only slightly brought up a hand out of habit in greeting. However, the employee caught sight of Gonetomon and gasped before hurrying her way over. “You're Nomin’s friend that visited her in the hospital! Oh, thank you for that! She was so elated to have a friend come by and keep her company as visiting hours allowed.”

For a moment, Estinien was a bit too flustered to speak, only casting a brief glance in Gonetomon's direction. When he looked at the woman again, he realized he had seen her before -- once. She had been leaving the oncology ward a while back. When he saw Nomin that day, she had some stuff from home brought to her by her…

“You're Nomin’s sister…?” Estinien asked.

“The one and only,” the woman replied with a grin. She then grabbed her name pin, emphasizing it for a moment. “The name's Bayarmaa. But, goodness me, I shouldn't keep you here. Nomin and Teiamon are upstairs with some of their other friends and Digimon.”

With that, Bayarmaa pointed in the direction of a door marked ‘No entry’. Estinien then put two and two together: this building was a joint business front and home.

Bayarmaa leaned in slightly, dropping her voice to a whisper, and bringing the back of her hand to shield a side of her mouth. “You can just walk right in and go. No key necessary or anything. VIP access,” Bayarmaa said, giving a playful wink before straightening up, her voice returning to a normal volume. “I have more things to organize and stock, but try not to have too much fun up there! I need to make sure I can also enjoy my baby sister's release from the hospital, too, y'know!”

“Don’t worry, you’ll have her all to yourself soon, I’m sure,” Estinien said, attempting to keep his tone lighthearted.

With discussion coming to a close, Estinien and Gonetomon both made their way for the door indicated, opening it and then heading up the stairwell. Chatter could already be heard from above, and as Estinien crested the top of the stairs, he saw a living area with a kitchen on the opposite side, a counter to separate the two areas. The sofa in the living area had three people on it, one he recognized, and the other two he did not. On the floor were two other people, as well as a number of other Digimon.

Nomin’s gaze immediately met Estinien’s as he appeared, and her already radiant smile became even more so, that elation making itself evident even within the crinkle of her eyes. At that moment, Estinien felt his heart skip a beat. He had often seen Nomin with a medical mask on, so her smile was not often one he got to see anywhere except reflected in her eyes.

“Sorry for not getting up to greet you, but…it’s really nice to see you, Estinien!” Nomin chirped. All that time in the hospital meant that she still needed physical therapy to combat some of the atrophying that came with being bedridden.

“N-No, it’s fine. I get it. I, uh…” Estinien glanced from Nomin to the others in the room. The overall vibe was joy and relief for having Nomin back; it cast a palpably halcyon atmosphere. “Sorry that it looks like I’m late.”

“I’m just glad you made it!” Nomin replied.

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 02x28 - The Bug Charmer's Trap / The Insect Master's Trap

Previously on Digimon Adventure: The Chosen Children flew straight up Cthulhu's butthole in order to smash the power supply for the impending meltdown. Then Koushiro made up a bunch of new lore that we all have to remember, revealing the real Cthulhu's butthole was inside him all along. This better not be on the quiz, Koushiro!

We open in the Digital World, where the team is already hard at work taking down Dark Towers.

XV-mon: X LASER!!!

XV-mon hits a Tower with his laser, which instantly disintegrates it into pixels. Amazing how much easier that became with time.

Daisuke: YEAH!!! Aquilamon: GLIDE HORN!!! Ankylomon: TAIL HAMMER!!!

Aquilamon and Ankylomon smash a pair of Towers themselves, while also finally debuting Ankylomon's signature Tail Hammer. It's exactly what you think it is.

Nefertimon & Pegasmon: SANCTUARY BIND!!!

The veteran Armor Digimon snare a tower with their Sanctuary Bind, then give it a yank and topple it into another Tower. This brings both of the foul structures crashing to the ground.

Hikari: (clapping) That was amazing!

The children stand around cheering on their Digimon. However, unbeknownst to them, a TV in the sand quietly turns on. On its screen, it displays a red "REC" in the corner.

The dub opens by having Davis flirt with Kari.

Davis: Whoever destroys the most Control Spires gets a date with me! By the way, Kari's the only one eligible. ExVeemon: VEE LASER!!! (ExVeemon destroys the Control Spire) Davis: Great shot! Aquilamon: GRAND HORN!!! Ankylomon: TAIL HAMMER!!! (Two more down) Nefertimon & Pegasusmon: GOLDEN NOOSE!!! (And two more) Pegasusmon: ONE!!! TWO!!! AND THREE!!! Kari: (clapping) Haha! Ha! Aw yeah! Yolei: Yeah! Davis: Wow, nice going, guys! I think my dad could use you on his bowling team!

Pegasusmon cheats because I guess he really wants T.K. to go on that date with Davis. He counts the first Spire as it falls over and the second as it impacts. In the next shot, the broken Spire of the second is shown laying in the sand as the first comes crashing down on top of it; He counts that as a third Spire.

Later that evening, the team retires to the Computer Clubroom.

Iori: Hey, guys! Sorry to keep you waiting. Thank you for your labor.

Iori gives the Digimon the typical I-Mart sacks full of treats. As he does, he thanks them with どうもご苦労様でし doumo gokurousama deshi. This particular form of expressing gratitude is specifically used from a superior to a subordinate; He's addressing the Digimon as employees.

Chibimon enjoys a pair of rice balls. Upamon has his ChuChu Jelly. Patamon and Tailmon seem to be eating some pastries. And as the camera pans, it also slowly zooms in on Poromon. Poromon lets out a satisfied trill while chomping down what can only be a kanpyoumaki roll. AT LONG LAST, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Miyako: Hey, come look at this! Takeru: What's up?

Miyako, at the computer, has the usual "map" squares up on her screen. One of the few black squares flashes a few times, then turns white.

Miyako: That has to be Ichijouji-kun! Daisuke: He's hard at work too. Hey, check out Chibimon!

Chibimon's sitting by himself eating a rice ball when the other Digimon close in around him. Upamon tosses a finished pack of ChuChu Jelly.

Upamon: Hey! What's it like to Jogress Evolve? Chibimon: What's it like? It's like this huge burst of energy pouring from deep inside me! Poromon: Like when we go from Child-stage to Adult-stage? Chibimon: No, way more than that! Tailmon: What about your consciousness? Both minds are sharing one body, right? Chibimon: It didn't feel like we had two minds. I'd say... it was like our minds were mixed into one. Patamon: (rhetorical) What must it feel like to have two minds mixed together...?

The Children say nothing during this conversation but watch with rapt interest.

In the dub:

Cody: Here you go, junk food from the vending machines! Candy bars, potato chips, and cheese crackers. Bon appetit!

Nothing the Digimon are eating looks even remotely what Cody just described. We are firmly in "rice balls as double bacon cheeseburgers" territory here. I guess you could mistake the pastry bag on the ground for a potato chip bag.

Also, even if we don't take the kanpyoumaki into account, it all came out of an I-Mart bag. So.

In place of Poromon's triumphant trill, Cody nags the Digimon for overeating.

Cody: Come on, guys! Take it easy or you'll get a stomachache! Yolei: Check this out! T.K.: What's up? (flashing square disappears) Yolei: Another Control Spire just went down in the Digital World. Davis: Looks like Ken is working overtime. Hey! Guess who's ready for a second course? Upamon: You never told us what it was like when you DNA Digivolved with Wormmon. DemiVeemon: It was weird. I felt like an action star in one of those big movies! Poromon: Was it kind of like when you first Digivolved from Rookie to Champion Digimon? DemiVeemon: No, bigger than that! Gatomon: The thing that would freak me out the most, though, would be to have two minds in one body. DemiVeemon: It's strange. It didn't feel like two minds in the same body. It's more like our minds merged into one super-being. Patamon: Sounds weird to me. You already had enough voices running around in your head. Gatomon: Yeah, if I merged with you, I could get lost in there with the others!

DemiVeemon explains the experience of merging with Wormmon perfectly, but the joke they end on comes out of nowhere. They just start bullying DemiVeemon out of nowhere and it doesn't really make sense. What voices are running around in his head? What are they talking about? That's not a thing.

After Chibimon stops answering, Daisuke speaks up.

Daisuke: Seems the Digimon are even more curious about Jogress Evolution than we are. Takeru: Well, they are the ones doing it. Hikari: Hey, what was it like for you, Daisuke-kun? Did you feel anything? Daisuke: Of course I felt it!

Daisuke puts his hand up to his heart.

Daisuke: The sound of Ichijouji's heartbeat. Dokkun. Dokkun. Like it was flowing through me! Miyako: Ah! Like the beats were Synchro!? Daisuke: (confused) Eh? Me and Ichijouji doing Synchro?

Daisuke, confused, plugs his nose to pantomime what he's talking about. Iori clears up the misconception.

Iori: U-Um, not Synchronized Swimming. It just means that they matched. Daisuke: Oh, right, right. Yeah, that's it.

Miyako here uses the loanword シンクロ shinkuro, which means "synchronized". But it's also a shorthand for synchronized swimming. Ever the athlete, that's where Daisuke's mind goes, hence the confusion.

Score another "Have you no telepathy, Takeru!?" moment.

Which, now that I think about it... Given all those exchanged glances between Takeru and Hikari over the past twenty-plus episodes, I think we can safely put Takeru down in the "Yes, telepathy" column. Eat that, Daisuke.

Also, it's probably obvious but ドッグン dokkun is the Japanese equivalent of "Thump-thump". An onomatopoeia of a heartbeat.

In the dub:

Davis: I was wondering how weird the DNA Digivolve was for DemiVeemon. It certainly was strange for me! T.K.: Well, you two are connected. Kari: Yeah! Are you telling me that you and Ken were somehow connected to? (Davis puts his hand over his chest) Davis: That's right! Pretty cool! I could even feel Ken's heart beating right along with mine. It was kinda freaky, to be honest! Yolei: So you two were actually synchronized, then. (Davis plugs nose) Davis: You mean like those goofy swimmers in the Olympics? Cody: No, she means that your hearts were beating at the exact same time, silly. Davis: (sheepish) Ehehehehehe... I knew that, Cody. I was just kidding....

Score one for the dub in managing to faithfully translate an "English word confusion" gag in a way that makes sense to native English speakers. "Synchronized" being a big, weird word means they can play this completely straight. I love it.

A fun moment, but Hikari has more questions.

Hikari: (to herself) But why Daisuke-kun and Ichijouji-kun's Digimon?

Suddenly, she realizes she said that out loud and puts up a hand to excuse herself.

Hikari: Oh, I don't mean that as a bad thing! But as far as combining goes, it might be possible for other Digimon to Jogress Evolve too. For example, XV-mon and Angemon.

Hikari imagines the product of such a fusion. It's in silhouette but it's kind of amazing that this is where her mind goes first. Hikari, too, is eager to see UltraAngemon come to life.

Hikari: There's so many possibilities! XV-mon and Tailmon! XV-mon and Aquilamon! XV-mon and Ankylomon!

Hikari imagines all three of those as well, each in silhouette.

Right. So, Hikari is demonstrating that the kids still don't really get why or how the Jogress occurred. She clearly thinks that it's some sort of property of Daisuke and his Digimon; That they're uniquely equipped to Jogress with other people.

That XV-mon has some sort of special fusion capability that lets him equip other children's Digimon like armor sets.

It's a learning curve and we're still trying to climb it.

In the dub:

Kari: (frustrated) I'm telling you, just when we think we've got this whole Digivolution thing figured out, something new pops up! (Kari puts up her hand) Kari: But this is the craziest thing we've seen yet. Just think, if all the Digimon could Digivolve together, just imagine all the weird and crazy combinations. Let's see.... (UltraAngemon) Kari: If ExVeemon and Angemon combined, they'd make one tough winged Digimon, that's for sure! (Gatomon fusion) Kari: Or how about a Gatomon combo? I dare someone to try and put that cat out for the night! (Other combos) Kari: How about ExVeemon and Aquilamon? Or ExVeemon and Ankylomon?

With the new script, Kari suddenly putting up her hand to backpedal is now a pretty random gesture. But it's also a minor bit of blocking that the scene doesn't dwell on so it's easy to overlook.

There's a small tonal shift here. Kari presents these DNA Digivolutions as half-joking zany hypotheticals while Hikari is earnestly considering them as viable Jogress options.

To my knowledge, neither UltraAngemon nor the rest of these ideas have ever been brought to life as viable Digimon for XV-mon to Jogress into in any of the games, cards, or V-Pets. And I think that's a shame.

The games gave us hypothetical Ultimate evolutions for all eight original Partner Digimon before 02 even aired. We have a complete set of Armor forms for each combination of Partner Digimon and Digimental. Where are my alternative Jogresses, Digimon? Why can't I Jogress Aquilamon with Stingmon? Or Tailmon with Ankylomon? Why you dragging your heels on that?

As Hikari proposes her ideas, we cut to Iori looking totally unenthused.

Iori: Ehhh...?

Daisuke slides in behind him in Furious Gorilla Mode and goes off.

Daisuke: WHAT!? YOU THINK JOGRESS EVOLVING MAKES US MARRIED OR SOMETHING!? Iori: NO!!! THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT AT ALL!!!

Iori's big-head reaction isn't as funny as Daisuke's but he does fire back on all cylinders for a moment. Then he calms himself.

Iori: I just don't see a reason to force them into Jogress Evolution. I don't even like fighting... (under his breath) ...one is enough already....

It's not clear from context whether Iori means "one evolution" or "one Jogress Digimon" but the meaning is roughly the same either way.

Daisuke doesn't catch what he said, but it pisses him off.

Daisuke: If you've got something to say, then say it clearly! Iori: No, it's nothing.

Then he turns around and mutters some more.

Iori: (under his breath) Honestly, Jogress Evolution is-- Daisuke: Then why are you still whining!?

Suddenly, Hikari and Takeru call everyone's attention to the chalkboards at the front of the room, where they've each written the names of two Digimon.

Hikari: Angemon and Aquilamon. Takeru: Ankylomon and Tailmon. Uhhh....

They do not elaborate. I'm not sure they even knew where they were going with this.

Finally, we cut back to Chibimon, who's reliving the glory of the moment.

Chibimon: (pantomiming) DESPERADO BLASTER!!!

The Digimon all cheer and applaud his performance.

Daisuke's outburst to Iori is really hard to translate into literal English words, but easy to grasp, I think. He furiously and accusatorily equates Jogress to 夫婦 fuufu, which means "husband and wife".

When he sees Iori's hesitancy, he immediately assumes Iori's problem is that he's self-conscious about the intimacy of Jogressing with Daisuke. It's not, but the fact that this is where Daisuke's mind goes betrays some of his own feelings about his Jogress with Ken, which he's already shared privately to the audience.

Hikari and Takeru, meanwhile, are still just approaching this from the angle of cool new Digimon evolutions.

While Miyako has been silent since the synchronized swimming misunderstanding. She was really interested in the emotional and psychological effects of Daisuke and Ken merging, but doesn't seem to care so much about the "What other Jogresses could we achieve?" conversation.

Her most noteworthy appearance is standing in the background, watching Iori with concern.

In the dub, Cody gives a shocked gasp rather than an unsettled vocalization, which makes Davis's reaction come out of nowhere.

Cody: (gasp) Davis: WHAT!?!? ARE YOU IMPLYING THAT YOUR DIGIMON IS TOO GOOD TO DNA DIGIVOLVE WITH MINE!?!? Cody: THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT, DAVIS!!! I just think we need to think this through a little more before we get too far ahead of ourselves! So don't bite off my head! ...I'm trying to be safe.... Davis: And I see it as a way to defeat Arukenimon! Cody: I'm not so sure. It might be dangerous.... Davis: You're so stubborn sometimes, Cody! Kari: Are you too finished being macho? Hey T.K., check out DemiVeemon. I think he's learned a new battle cry. T.K.: Huh...? DemiVeemon: (inhales) EEE!!! (Digimon clap and cheer for DemiVeemon)

Wow, what an absolute nonsequitur this scene ends on. They take their first commercial break here.

I love the angle of "What, are you too good to merge with me, HUH!?!?" as an expression of the 夫婦 fuufu line.

Cody doesn't really seem to know what he's so hesitant about, which is probably because Iori never expresses it. He makes vague accusations of DNA Digivolving being dangerous, but doesn't explain his meaning. Ironically, he seems to be borrowing that idea from Ken next scene.

As night falls, Ken and Wormmon are still at work in the Digital World. Standing atop a Dark Tower they just brought down, Ken expresses his thoughts about Jogress.

Ken: Jogress Evolution is too dangerous. Wormmon: (disappointed) It is? Ken: It is. Look... If it gives you the power to reach Perfect level, then that means it must be expending a huge amount of energy. In other words, it puts an incalculable strain on the individuals involved. It could even reduce your lifespan. Wormmon: Ah! Is that true? Ken: I don't have any proof. Ultimately, this is just my speculation. Wormmon: Is that so? Well, if you don't want me to do it, then I won't. But is it really because you're worried about me, Ken-chan? Ken: ... Wormmon: Is it, Ken-chan? Ken: L-Let's go home.

Refusing to answer the question, Ken turns and walks away. As always, Wormmon sees straight through him.

Wormmon: (thinking) You can't lie to me, Ken-chan. You're still reluctant to join their team, aren't you? But that's okay. I'll wait until you're ready to decide.

Realizing that Wormmon's been standing there delivering internal monologue instead of following, Ken stops and turns back to him.

Ken: Hey, let's go. Wormmon: Right!

Wormmon quickly hops over to Ken's side. Then, together, they start walking for the nearest Digital Gate.

This is where Cody got the idea that DNA Digivolving is dangerous. Ken just... made it up to have an excuse not to let Wormmon do it again. In his internal monologue, Wormmon outright accuses Ken of lying when he says it puts an incalculable strain on the Digimon involved. There is no real peril that we know of.

In the dub:

Ken: Boy, I can't believe how late it is. I must have forgotten to check my watch. I guess time flies when you're destroying Control Spires. Wormmon: You seem distracted, Ken. Ken: I've just been thinking a lot about the DNA Digivolve and I'm worried about the aftereffects. I mean, it does give you the power of an Ultimate Digimon but at what price? It could be draining your powers and shortening your lifespan. Wormmon: But Ken, I didn't feel any side effects when I Digivolved with ExVeemon, though it did feel weird to have only two legs.

Why would that feel weird? You have two legs as Stingmon.

Ken: I don't know. It's just a theory now. I don't have any proof to speak of. Wormmon: Okay. If you don't want me to Digivolve with them, I just won't do it. But do you really have a theory about Digivolving or does it have more to do with hanging out with the other DigiDestined. Ken: (thinking) He might be right. I'm just not sure yet.... Wormmon: I know. It's late. Ken: (lips flapping)

This is where Original Ken is silent, Wormmon doubles down on the question, and then Ken dodges and stammers out "Let's go home".

Here, Ken's internal monologue takes the place of his meaningful silence. Oddly, he expresses uncertainty about his own feelings. The original indicated that Ken was consciously lying, while Dub Ken somehow doesn't know if he's lying or not.

But because Dub Wormmon takes back the question rather than pressing it, Ken has nothing to dodge. His laps flap silently and he just walks away.

Wormmon: (thinking) You don't fool me, Ken. You're really just nervous about being with the others. You still haven't forgiven yourself. Ken: (sternly) I gotta get home. My parents must be worried sick about me. They probably think I've disappeared again. Hurry up, Wormmon! It's getting dark and I don't want to be a digi-delicacy for some forest creature! Wormmon: W-W-W-Wait for me! (Wormmon bounds to Ken) Ken: Ahaha! It's amazing how fast you can move when you have the right motivation.

Ken sounds like an absolute dick in his last two lines. Not in his words but in the harsh, Kaiser-like tone with which he delivers them. He even sounds like he's mocking Wormmon after the latter hurries to catch up. I don't know what they were thinking with that.

The following morning, a montage of destroyed Dark Towers brings us back to the field of Towers that the team was toppling yesterday. The mystery woman is not happy.

Woman: What have they done!? Do these little brats think they're playing Bo-taoshi on Sports Day!? We're on a whole different playing field!

Sports Days are events where schools have their students engage in various sporting competitions. 棒倒 Bo-taoshi or pole-toppling is a Japanese sport featuring two unstable poles standing upright across a field from each other.

The goal of the game is to knock down your opponent's pole while protecting your own. Huge groups of students divide into offensive and defensive teams for each side, and then dogpile on the poles to try and knock over the enemy pole while protecting their own.

So, in a manner of speaking, we are playing 棒倒 Bo-taoshi and have been since day 1.

In the dub, Arukenimon starts talking at the start of the montage so she rambles quite a lot.

Arukenimon: Look at what these little deviants have done to my precious Control Spires! They think they've got the best of me, huh? Wait 'til I get my hands on them! They may have set my plans back a bit, but there's no way I'll be defeated by some DigiDestined pipsqueaks! I'll just have to be a little craftier next time. (Montage ends) Arukenimon: Look, they've knocked down the towers like a roll of dominoes. So they want to play games, huh? We'll play alright, but by my rules! I'll show those brats who's boss.

A lot wordier and more rambling, but so far as the tone and meaning behind the words, nothing's really different. Both versions of the character are just complaining into the void about how mad she is.

Suddenly, the mystery woman hears a loud nearby beeping.

It's the TV, still flashing the red "REC" on it. She's surprised and so am I because I thought she was the one taping them.

Woman: What's this?

She approaches the TV and clears away some of the sand that's piled up. Then she hits the Play button. The recording of the Chosen Children begins at a different conversation than the one we were privy to before, at an angle that really makes me wonder where the camera was and how Takeru and Daisuke didn't notice it.

Iori: But where could that woman be? Takeru: Taking down Dark Towers is important, but there's no end to them. Daisuke: We need to find a way to capture that woman and put an end to the destruction!

The video suddenly stops there. On its own, it rewinds and replays that section again.

Iori: But where could that woman be? Woman: Nrrrgh.... Takeru: Taking down Dark Towers is important, but there's no end to them.

Before Daisuke can deliver his line, the woman kicks the TV, smashing its screen and knocking it over.

Woman: CAPTURE ME!?!? Put an end to the destruction!? Listen to those arrogant words. If you want to meet me so badly, then I'll indulge you. Then you'll thoroughly regret your naivety.

Taking out her pink cellphone, the woman sends them an email. Which she also narrates.

Woman (V.O.): To: Chosen Children. If you wish to meet me, then come to Giga House.

She just. Kind of. Expects them to know what "Giga House", named in English, is even though this is the very first time it has ever been mentioned in either series.

In the dub, the TV is making no beeping noise. Arukenimon suddenly reacts to a psychic premonition, and even makes noise of her own doing it.

Arukenimon: Huh!? (Arukenimon approaches the TV) Arukenimon: What's this? A video recorder out here? (Arukenimon clears sand away) Arukenimon: It looks like there's a tape inside. (Arukenimon presses play) Arukenimon: (intrigued) What's this? Cody: I wonder where that creepy woman is hiding? T.K.: Good work! We smashed all the Control Spires in this area but there's still a lot more we have to destroy. Davis: Let's get started, duuuuude! (Recording repeats) Cody: I wonder where that creepy woman is hiding? Arukenimon: Nrrrgh.... T.K.: Good work! We smashed all the Control Spires in this area but there's still a lot more we have to destroy. Arukenimon: BE QUIET!!! (Arukenimon Kick!) Arukenimon: How dare you talk about me like I'm some kind of witch!? I dress this way to make a fashion statement! I think I'll call some friends of mine and ask them to teach those little brats a lesson in manners.

They took out Daisuke's line and replaced it with a throwaway, which weakens the scene because Daisuke is specifically the one who provoked the mystery woman's outburst. She lost her cool because of his perceived cockiness.

Daisuke was talking about her like she's just some ordinary foe they can shitstomp in a five-minute action climax and then end the episode's plot. That offended her enough to challenge them to try.

Arukenimon is just mad that Cody called her "creepy". And she isn't directly challenging them in response but calling her friends to beat them up. Even though the immediate next shot is going to be her email directly challenging them.

This is a point of escalation. Mystery Woman won't be sending a Dark Tower Digimon their way and then going about her business. She's throwing down the gauntlet. She's saying, "Come and try me, you little shits." But the dub version makes it sound like business as usual. She'll find another Digimon to attack them like always.

They aren't wrong necessarily; She will involve other Digimon in this confrontation. But it's still tonally different. She will be a direct participant in what's to come.

Anyways, speaking of her email, Daisuke receives it and reads it aloud.

Daisuke: "To: Chosen Children. If you wish to meet me, come to Giga House." Interesting...!

The 5th graders sprint full-speed to Computer Club with Daisuke at their lead.

Hikari: But it might be a trap. Takeru: I know, but we'll have to fight her eventually.

They join Iori and Miyako in the Clubroom. Miyako wastes no time.

Miyako: DIGITAL GATE, OPEN!!! Let me remind all of you, we are to retreat the instant we think we're in danger. Daisuke: Loud and clear! Miyako: CHOSEN CHILDREN, LET'S ROLL!!!

Miyako opens the Digital Gate and the Chosen Children deploy. Fortunately, we all do somehow know where to find Giga House.

Miyako definitely thinks this is a trap too. I'm sure everyone's considering a trap in the back of their minds; This is so obviously a trap. It would never be anything but a trap. But Takeru's right; If we walk into the trap knowing it's a trap then it's not a trap, it's just the fight with the mystery woman that we've been waiting for.

The dub rewrites the email in English, of course.

Davis: Look, it's an email from that spooky woman! "Dear DigiDestined, we need to talk about the debt you owe me for destroying my property. Meet me at the Giga House." Kari: You know it's a trap; Why are we going? T.K.: We're going to have to face her sooner or later, Kari. At least this way, it won't be a big surprise! Davis: Hurry, we don't have much time!

Do... Do we not...? She didn't tell us when to meet her at Giga House.

Yolei: DIGI-PORT OPEN!!! Okay, we're all set. Now we all agree, if it's too dangerous, we just turn back? Davis: LET'S GOOOOOO!!! Yolei: I have a bad feeling about this, guys. (The DigiDestined pass through the DigiPort)

In the original, Miyako instructs them to retreat if it turns out to be dangerous. As their senpai, she has that responsibility and authority for them. In the dub, it's phrased as more of a suggestion. In turn, Daisuke registers and agrees to Miyako's instruction while Davis seems to just want her to quit whining and open the Gate.

On the other side of the Digital Gate, the Chosen Children reach their destination.

It's an absolutely colossal house with a sign in the front yard.

Iori: It says "For Free: Giga House". Daisuke: W-What the heck is this house!? V-mon: It's huge! It's too huge! Armadimon: It's thirty times the normal size-dagyaa! Iori: It's as if we've wandered into the Land of Giants from Gulliver's Travels. Miyako: Hey, shouldn't we turn back now? Hikari: I agree. This definitely feels like a trap. Takeru: I'll concede that-- Ken: If that's what you think, then you should turn back.

Suddenly Ken is here! Hi, Ken! Daisuke is also excited to say "Hi, Ken".

Daisuke: HEEEEEY!!!

Daisuke is so happy right now. Look at that face.

In the dub:

Kari: Now that is one big, yellow house! Yolei: My question: Who is the big person that lives in it!? Davis: This is Giga House!? Veemon: It's huge! And spacious! Armadillomon: It must be 200 feet tall! It's amazing! Cody: No kidding! Kari: Could you imagine having to mow this lawn? T.K.: Or how about washing those windows? You'd need a helicopter to get up there! Yolei: Why do you think Arukenimon called us here? Is she going to attack us with a team of basketball players? Davis: I dunno, but keep your eyes open. Let's look for a way in! Wormmon: Hey, guys. Team: Huh!? (Everyone turns and sees Ken) Ken: So you guys got the email too? Davis: HEEEEEY!!!

The original plays Giga House as unsettling. The very sight of it is raising everybody's hackles, with Miyako and Hikari saying that this already feels dangerous enough to withdraw like the team was instructed.

We don't need to see any more. We have seen enough to get the fuck out of here.

The dub removes the tension and replaces it with quips. They play the sight of Giga House as comical and absurd, and spend the whole scene taking potshots on it.

But enough about that because Ken's here now.

Daisuke hangs back and waves, hoping Ken will notice him. But V-mon takes the initiative and goes straight up to him and Wormmon.

V-mon: So you get the email too? Wormmon: Yeah. Ken: I thought it was only sent to me. You guys got it too? Hikari: The enemy might be trying to round up both you and us in one fell swoop. Ken: That sounds right. All the more reason why you shouldn't go in. Daisuke: You say that, but you're planning to go in by yourself, aren't you? That's too dangerous! We should go together! Miyako: Hang on! Daisuke: Huh? Miyako: We all agreed that we're just checking the place out for now, didn't we?

Ken's arrival puts us in a bit of a situation. This was a recon mission and we were literally about to agree to pull back before he got here. After a moment of consideration, Takeru proposes a compromise.

Takeru: Hey, why don't we do this? To start out, Daisuke-kun, Ichijouji-kun, and I will go in and scope the place out. Meanwhile, the rest of you stay here.

Hikari and Miyako both nod in agreement, but Iori protests.

Iori: I'm going too! Daisuke: Great! You're with us. Iori: Yes! Takeru: Well, if that's the case, then we can't just leave Hikari-chan and Miyako-san by themselves....

I can't say with certainty that Takeru's being a little sexist here. But I feel like Takeru's being a little sexist here. Getting vibes of that time Taichi told him it was his mission to protect Sora while Taichi and Koushiro were out. But we could take just take it that he doesn't want to divide the 6 of them into a 4:2 split if we want to give benefit of doubt.

In any case, he doesn't say it outright, but Takeru's volunteering to stay behind. He leaves the implication unstated, but the others catch it.

Ken: (to Daisuke and Iori) I think you should stay here too. Daisuke: That's not going to happen! As your Jogress Evolution partner, I have to be there. Just in case something big happens. Ken: ...

Ken doesn't respond to that, but it's clear from the stony expression on his face that he's not happy about it.

Miyako: I have to say it again: DO NOT do anything careless. Iori: We'll be okay. I'll keep them in line! Daisuke: Alright! Recon Team, move out!

With the teams decided on, Daisuke, Ken, and Iori make for Giga House.

Poor Takeru. The recon team was his idea and he somehow ended up negotiated off the roster. XD Also it's kind of funny that Iori and Ken agree about Daisuke and Ken being Jogress partners. They're both not happy about it.

In the dub:

Veemon: You guys come for the house party? Ken: Some house party, Veemon. Too bad the hostess wants to make pinatas out of her guests. This is a setup. Kari: We figured that too. I guess Miss Congeniality wants to eliminate all her enemies in one swoop.

"Miss Congeniality" is a title offered to the sweetest and kindest participant in a beauty pageant. It's also a movie about an undercover cop participating in a beauty pageant, but I don't think this is supposed to be a direct reference. Kari's just sarcastically riffing on Arukenimon's cruel demeanor.

Ken: That's why I think it's a bad idea for you guys to go in. You should just go home. Davis: That's crazy! Are you planning on going in there by yourself? That makes no sense! She'll eat you for lunch! Yolei: Ken has a point. Davis: Huh? Yolei: We have to do something. We can't just sit here. This might be our best chance to stop her!

Since the dub was too busy quipping to discuss the recon and retreat strategy, Ken telling them to go home comes out more forcefully and antagonistic. In the original, he was agreeing with them that they should withdraw.

Yolei, meanwhile, is high. She says "Ken has a point" and then goes on to argue for the opposite of what Ken just said.

T.K.: I have an idea. How about a few of us go in to scope things out. This way, if it's a trap, the rest of us can bust in and help. Davis, since you and Ken are so fired up to go in there, why don't you guys go first? (Kari and Yolei nod) Cody: Count on me too! Davis: Great idea! Glad I thought of it. Cody: Huh? T.K.: We'll be right out here. If things get too crazy, just signal us and we'll come to the rescue, okay? Ken: I still think it's a better idea if I go in there alone, guys. Davis: Not a chance, Ken! We're DNA Digivolve partners. We should really be together on this! Think about it; If things get hectic in there, you'll really need me! Yolei: Cool your jets, guys, or you're gonna end up fighting each other in there. Cody: That's why I'm going along too! Davis: Let's go! Come on, guys. Follow me! Last one in is a rotten Digi-Egg! Wormmon: I'd hate to be a rotten Digi-Egg....

As before, the caution and nervous tension has been removed from the scene. The characters are bold, fearless, and ready to throw down. Though I'm pleased to see that they play the "I'm your Jogress partner" bit totally straight.

Both the potential sexism from Takeru and the vagueness when he volunteers to stay behind are also dropped. T.K. never includes himself in the recon team to begin with, so the topic of who will stay with the girls is consequently never raised.

While the Recon Team makes for Giga House, the mystery woman is up on the roof watching them through a telescope.

Woman: (entertained) Going straight in when you already know it's a trap. How reckless! Adults don't just put on cheap plays for children. When we set out to defeat someone, we vanquish them mercilessly. I won't go easy on you.

At that, she leaves the edge of the roof, dashing off to get into position. Her challenge letter has been received and answered. As the Recon Team reaches the lawn outside the Giga House, It's time for the games to begin.

And with that, we go to commercial.

In the dub:

Arukenimon: Those fools! I knew they'd walk willingly into my trap! How stupid can you get!? Well, I'll try not to disappoint them. I'll have plenty of lovely horrors in store for them once they get inside. Well, if I'm going to have guests, I'll have to straighten up. Ah! So little time, so much destruction! Ahaha! (Arukenimon leaves the roof and the recon team reaches the house) Davis: Whoa! Ken: How in the world are we supposed to get in there, anyway? Davis: Maybe we should look under the doormat. Maybe there's a forty-foot key?

Valid possibility but probably not helpful. The dub takes its second commercial break here as well.

Arukenimon takes a different approach to Mystery Woman; She sticks to attacking the DigiDestined for their recklessness and doesn't bring their ages into the conversation, instead opting to make housekeeping jokes. But the idea of both is the same; She's psyching herself up to fight them.

After the commercial, we skip the question of how they're going to get in and find them on the Giga House kitchen counter.

An open window behind them implies their means of entrance though how they got all the way up here remains unclear.

Daisuke: Y'know that comment you made earlier about Gulliver's Travels, Iori? You were spot on! V-mon: I have no idea what you're talking about. What's Gulliver's Travels? Daisuke: Gulliver's Travels is about a boy who plants a beanstalk, which takes him above the clouds into the Land of Giants. Iori: Um, that's Jack and the Beanstalk.... Daisuke: Eh!? You mean Jack and Gulliver are different people!?

Daisuke needs a second opinion and looks to child prodigy Ken for confirmation.

Daisuke: Is that right? Ken: Pretty much... We should really focus on scouting the house's interior.

Poor Ken. He's already socially awkward around these people and Daisuke just put him on the spot. He answers the question very quickly and then instantly changes the subject. He isn't comfortable having to correct Daisuke, to act as if he knows better than Daisuke, after everything that's happened between them.

For the dub, the Japanese script just gift-wrapped a Stupid Davis joke for you! I know how much you like them! Please enjoy.

Davis: Maybe Arukenimon will try to destroy us with a giant, super-evil Digi-Pizza! Veemon: Let's just hope that woman won't use us as the toppings. I'm very allergic to anchovies. Davis: It reminds me of this book called Gulliver's Travels! It's about this kid who sells an old cow for some magic beans and ends up fighting this giant! Cody: Nuh-uh! That's Jack and the Beanstalk, silly! Davis: Huh!? I-I-I knew that, dude. I was just joking. Ken: You guys are classic. You two fight just like an old married couple.

I... wouldn't go that far. Davis and Cody have locked horns a couple times this episode but they're not constant bickerers.

The dub does indeed have fun with this bit, though the setup is awkward. They took out Iori's first mention of Gulliver's Travels, so Davis has to deliver both setup and punchline all at once.

Putting Daisuke's D-grade in literature behind us, the Recon team sets out across the counter. But they stop suddenly when a strange flute music fills the kitchen. It's quiet and difficult to make out behind the background music, but it's there, growing steadily louder.

Daisuke: W-What the--!? Is that just my imagination or...? Iori: No, I hear it too. Ken: Yeah, same here. V-mon: Something's coming! Armadimon: Be careful-dagyaa! Wormmon: I have a bad feeling about this....

And so it comes. Out of the kitchen vents. Out of the sink. Out of seemingly everywhere, a countless swarm of Gokimon pour into the kitchen.

Armadimon: It's a Gokimon army-dagyaa!

We should not have come inside. The trap is sprung. And the flute music only gets louder.

In the dub, there is no flute music. Just the regular BGM.

Davis: Did you guys hear something!? Cody: Maybe it was your imagination. Ken: No, I heard it too. Veemon: We're not alone here! Armadillomon: Sounds like clicking. Wormmon: It's coming from that vent over the stove.... (Gokimon descend from the vent) Davis: EW, YUCK!!! Veemon: IT'S AN ARMY OF GOKIMON!!! There's nothing like an infestation of killer bugs to ruin the charm of a sweet little cottage!

The dub messes up and uses the Japanese name for these Digimon, despite previously renaming them to Roachmon in episode 6. That's a whoopsy-doodle.

I think this is another classic case of missing sounds resulting in the dub script scrambling to make sense of things. Since the flute music isn't something you can read in a translated script and the boys never said "What's that weird music?" the writers probably had to guess at what noise they're responding to. And they assumed it was the incoming Gokimon horde.

Since the weird music is a pretty significant plot point, this is a heavy loss.

Outside the house, Tailmon's sensitive ears twitch.

Tailmon: What's that? Hikari: Is something wrong? Tailmon: Did you hear something just now? Miyako: I didn't hear anything. Tailmon: Weird. It must just be my imagina-- OH NO!!!

Tailmon suddenly looks sharply upward at a massive swarm of Flymon descending towards them.

Hikari, Miyako, & Takeru: AHH!!! Hawkmon: THERE'S SO MANY!!! THEY'RE COMING RIGHT AT US!!!

The best kinds of traps are the ones with a hidden secret trap for the people who avoid the trap. The trick to the Giga House trap is that staying out of Giga House will not protect you from Giga House.

In the dub:

Gatomon: Wait... There's something big coming this way. Kari: What is it, Gatomon? Gatomon: A weird buzzing noise... It's like.... (Gatomon sees the swarm of Flymon) Gatomon: A swarm of angry killer bugs! Kari, Yolei, & T.K.: AHHHHH!!! Hawkmon: They don't look too pleased, I must say.

Hawkmon still isn't taking this very seriously.

We don't hear the flute music in this scene; it fades out as we fade in on Tailmon's perked up ears. But it's probably the flute music she was hearing too. As before, the dub clearly indicates what she was hearing and it's the attacking bugs themselves.

Back inside the house and one set of Adult evolutions later, XV-mon, Stingmon, and Ankylomon throw hands with the Gokimon army.

XV-mon throws punches, Stingmon hits a group with a flying kick, and Ankylomon swings his Tail Hammer around for massive damage.

But it's not just them. Daisuke throws a Gokimon off the counter with a well-executed back roll, while Iori puts a spoon to use as a makeshift bokken.

Daisuke: SORIYA!!! Iori: MEN!!!

Daisuke's callout doesn't really mean anything; It's just a kiai. Iori is calling the target for his strike like a proper kendo practitioner. He still refuses to go for anything but head strikes but it's a sideways swing rather than an overhead so it's progress.

Ankylomon: They just keep coming, one after another! There's no end to them!

Maybe, and I'm just gonna throw this out there, but maybe we should have left when Miyako said so. Maybe that would have been a good idea.

You too, Ken. We're in this mess because you didn't want to leave with us. I blame you for this.

In the dub, the Digimon say things while fighting too.

ExVeemon: I hate roaches! Take that! And that! Stingmon: YAAA!!! Ankylomon: ... Davis: Alley-oop!

The whole shot of Iori smashing a Gokimon in the face with a spoon is cut. It's replaced by a repeat of ExVeemon punching them.

ExVeemon: I'm getting worn out here! Ankylomon: There's too many of them! Every time I knock one down, two more pop up in its place!

Davis's little "Alley-oop" is perfect but I'm so mad about the spoon getting cut. It's the best shot of the fight. After he takes out the Gokimon, he does a proud little :D and it's so good.

Awesome spoonanigans or not, though, this fight is turning. We're tiring out and they just keep coming. We need to go harder.

XV-mon: Daisuke! Daisuke: Yeah.

Somehow, Daisuke, Iori, and XV-mon are still up on the counter but Stingmon, Ankylomon, and Ken have moved to the floor. Daisuke calls down to them.

Daisuke: Ichijouji! we need Jogress Evolution! Ken: Uh... Um.... Stingmon: Ken-chan....

Perched on Stingmon's shoulder, Ken hesitates to answer.

Daisuke: Did you hear me? Ken: Huh? Daisuke: Ichijouji, we need Jogress Evolution! Iori: You can't! Daisuke: (deflating) We... can't? Iori: Please look closely at our enemies. They aren't being controlled by Evil Rings or Evil Spirals. Daisuke: Then they must be Dark Towers. Ken: Is there evidence of that? Daisuke: I... guess not...? Iori: In that case, we need to get out of here. Ankylomon: Seconded.

Ankylomon slaps a Gokimon in front of him out of the way and then bolts. XV-mon picks up Daisuke and Iori, one in each hand.

XV-mon: Let's do that. Daisuke: R-Right. Let's make a break for it, team!

Despite being able to fly, XV-mon drops from the counter and stomps down onto a few of the Gokimon, then runs across the floor. Just wanted to get a couple more licks in, I guess. Stingmon follows in the air behind XV-mon with Ken riding his back.

On the plus side, cockroaches are famously hard to kill. Nobody's turned to pixel dust yet so we haven't killed anyone. Just rang their bells a few times.

As an aside, I like that Iori has to be the one to explain this. Ken cannot in good conscience sweep away the Gokimon in a hail of Desperado Blaster if there's a possibility they might be real Digimon. But he's also uncomfortable and self-aware about being in this group dynamic.

We saw back at the window how uncomfortable it made him to have to tell Daisuke, "No, you're wrong," even about something as simple as that literature discussion. He doesn't have the confidence to assert himself and push back with these people, and understandably so. He doesn't exactly have a good history with that.

But in this case, Daisuke is potentially catastrophically wrong about something. And it winds up being Iori that has to step in, because... Well, that's the job he volunteered for. He promised Miyako that he'd ensure Daisuke and Ken behave responsibly.

In the dub:

ExVeemon: We need more firepower! Davis: You heard him, Ken! We need to DNA Digivolve or we're gonna be bug food in a matter of minutes! Stingmon: I think he's right about this one, Ken. We're overmatched here! Davis: Ken, are you listening to me!? Ken: Huh!? Davis: I can't do this by myself, do you hear me!? Cody: No, wait! Davis: Huh!? What do you mean? Cody: There's something weird about those bugs. Davis: Huh? Cody: Take a look for yourself. Do you see any Dark Spirals or Black Gears on any of them? Davis: Aren't they made from Control Spires? Ken: Maybe she created them from scratch. Davis: Huh!? She cooks, too!? Go figure.... Cody: It's time we realized we're outnumbered. Ankylomon: Gotta go, boys! (Ankylomon smacks a Gokimon and bolts) Davis: Let's get out of here, and pronto! (ExVeemon picks up the boys and jumps down) ExVeemon: Follow me! Stingmon: I'm right behind you!

Wow, this is impressively terrible.

For starters, Ken's reticence to Jogress with Daisuke doesn't come through. Stingmon agrees to Jogressing on Ken's behalf but Ken just... doesn't seem to be paying attention? In the original, he's making uncertain mouth noises to show his reluctance, but here he's just looking away until he suddenly reacts to "Did you hear me?"

So it comes across like his mind was just elsewhere, rather than that he doesn't want to DNA Digiviolve but doesn't know how to express it.

This creates a problem when we don't really have any reason not to DNA Digivolve. The reason we end up retreating is just 'cause there's a lot of the Gokimon. That is... exactly the problem that Paildramon was supposed to solve, and no other problem is raised. Ken even agrees with Davis that Arukenimon created these Gokimon, so you'd think we wouldn't have any reason not to let Paildramon slaughter them with impunity. What are we doing here?

Lastly, when Cody does try to point out that they aren't being controlled like Iori says, he says he doesn't see Dark Spirals or Black Gears. Black Gears!

Black Gears were only a thing in thirteen episodes of the other show. Where did Black Gears suddenly come from?

Outside, the reserve team is on the run from the Flymon swarm.

On the backs of Nefertimon, Pegasmon, and Aquilamon, the reserve team flies as fast as they can to escape their pursuers. The Flymon let off a volley of stingers at them.

Miyako: Who the hell are these guys!? Aquilamon: They're Flymon! Miyako: I know that! I mean, why are they attacking us!? Aquilamon: No idea!

At the last second, Miyako and Aquilamon spot a Snimon cleverly camouflaged by the giant grass.

Miyako: WAAAAUGH!!!

Aquilamon ascends quickly just before the Snimon strikes, severing the grass with their scythe-arm.

Two more Snimon lunge for Takeru and Hikari, but crash into the Flymon pursuing them instead thanks to a bit of evasive flying.

Nefertimon: What now, Hikari? Hikari: What do we do...? Snimon and Flymon... There's just too many of them!

Down below, an entire Snimon swarm has joined the Flymon swarm, flying in parallel with each other.

Suddenly, Takeru notices that they're approaching the house's massive window.

Takeru: That's Giga House! We can escape in there. Pegasmon: SILVER BLAZE!!!

Pegasmon fires off a shot of green energy from his faceplate and smashes a hole in the window. The veterans hurry inside with Miyako shortly behind. Miyako has a trio of Snimon on her tail, but she's able to tuck through the hole despite Aquilamon's larger side. The Snimon are not so fortunately and crash through the glass, making a bigger opening.

I'm... not sure how this helps us, since nothing's stopping the swarms from following us inside. This was a bad plan, Takeru.

In the dub:

T.K.: Look out for those stingers! Yolei: Who are those guys, Aquilamon!? Aquilamon: They're Flymon! Yolei: Why are they chasing us? We didn't do anything to them. Aquilamon: I don't have the slightest clue! (Snimon ambush) Yolei: WAAAAAUGH!!! (Snimon jump the veterans) T.K.: Look out! Kari: AHHHHHHH!!! (Snimon collide with Flymon) Nefertimon: What's the plan, Kari? Kari: I don't know! There's too many of them! Sooner or later, they'll catch us! T.K.: Head for the house! (Kari and T.K. approach the window) Kari: The window is closed. What are we going to do!? Pegasusmon: Leave that to me! EQUUS BEAM!!! (Smash) T.K.: Sorry we didn't knock! Put it on my bill! (Kari and T.K. enter) Yolei: WHOOOOOA!!! (Yolei follows)

Right after that terrible previous scene, this is really good. I like that they have T.K. come up with the house option sooner so they can introduce the closed window as an added complication, briefly ratcheting the tension up.

I also like T.K.'s quip as they go through the window. He (debatably) just saved our asses. He's earned a tension-relieving quip. This is a good place for one.

My one nitpick is that Yolei's line read on "Why are they chasing us?" is too calm and thoughtful. She should be freaking the fuck out right now like Miyako is.

Inside the house, the Recon Team has made it to the bathroom.

XV-mon uses a showerhead to wash away their pursuing Gokimon, sending a flood of them swirling down the drain. As we all know how survivable it is for bugs to get washed down drains, this is a perfectly reasonable nonlethal takedown of their foes! Uh-huh!

Daisuke: Way to go, XV-mon! You've driven off the whole Gokimon arm--YEEP!!!

Daisuke spoke too soon. The flute music returns with a vengeance. And by now, we know nothing good comes of that music.

A new horde of Digimon we've never seen before descends from silken threads onto the washing machine.

Daisuke: That's a different group that came out!

So it is! Kunemon is a Child-stage Virus-attribute Larva Digimon. Kunemon is a Child form of Kuwagamon and Flymon though neither is truly consistent as one of their Adult evolutions. Though Kunemon's most prominent appearance is probably Digimon Survive, where they had the distinguished honor of being a Partner Digimon with Flymon as their Adult evolution.

Unfortunately, because of this anime, they are sometimes considered a knock-off or recolored or sister species to Wormmon despite being from the original line of V-Pets. Wormmon and Kunemon are not Caterpie and Weedle, but it's easy to make that assumption.

As is common with Child Digimon, their name is an onomatopoeia. The sound クネクネ kunekune represents wiggling. Wiggle wiggle.

Narrator: Kunemon! A larva-type Digimon with lightning bolt patterns all up and down their body. Their special attack is Electric Thread.

Nothing really interesting or noteworthy in this rundown.

In the dub, ExVeemon delivers a quip while washing away the Gokimon.

ExVeemon: You boys stink! How 'bout a little shower? Don't forget to wash behind your ears! (ExVeemon washes away the Gokimon) Ankylomon: Those guys give me the willies. Davis: Nice work, ExVeemon! That'll show those creeps--huh? Stingmon: Something tells me we're not out of hot water yet, guys.

As before, the flute music doesn't make it into the dub. Instead, Davis and Stingmon react to sudden chattering sounds being made by the incoming Kunemon horde.

Davis: This place has more bugs in it than a secondhand computer! Ankylomon: (rundown) Kunemon. These larva Digimon have a shocking attack, the Electric Thread. They're small but pack quite a wallop!

Ankylomon doesn't have much to say either but at least he doesn't explain to us the patterning on their exoskeleton to fill time.

So, we have another set of enemies but they are just Child Digimon. Stingmon volunteers to handle this himself.

It does not go well.

Stingmon: Leave this to us!

Stingmon flies up to the washing machine, only to be met with a net of Electric Thread fired from all of the Kunemon at once. The electrified snares disable and pull him down onto the metal "floor". Stingmon struggles, grounding himself on all fours and refusing to be pulled any farther.

Then another set of Kunemon descend behind him and fire as well. They hit Ken directly, yanking him back and pulling him from Stingmon's back.

Ken: UWAAAAAUGH!!! Stingmon: Ken-chan!

This momentary distraction is all it takes. Stingmon gets up on his knees and whips around as Ken is pulled away from him. No longer in his sturdy defensive position, the Kunemon are able to give their thread a yank and pull him into the swirling waters of the washing machine.

The other set drop Ken into the waters after him. As they plunge uncontrollably, Stingmon finds Ken, protectively grabbing onto him but helpless to resist the swirling torrent.

This was a very well-executed combat maneuver by the Kunemon. Bravo. I love intelligent choreography like this.

In the dub:

Stingmon: You creeps give bugs a bad name!

From there, it's various pained groans and yelps until they're both dropped into the water.

Stingmon: Don't worry, I've got you, Ken!

Either way, the folly of Ken leaving his teammates behind and attempting to fight as a lone wolf is demonstrated well. He needs to rely on the others and let them have his back.

Speaking of which.

Iori: Ankylomon, you need to Armor Evolve into Submarimon! Ankylomon: Of course-dagyaa.

Ankylomon devolves into Armadimon in preparation.

Iori: DIGIMENTAL UP!!!

Once Submarimon's evolution is complete, Iori takes his place in the cockpit.

Iori: Alright! Let's go, Submarimon! Submarimon: Let's do it!

Submarimon... somehow launches himself into the air to reach the side of the washing machine, then drills through the side. The metal wall crumbles like stone and lets him pass into the swirling waters. That's not how anything works but okay.

Submarimon: Stingmon, grab on!

Submarimon passes Stingmon, letting him grab onto his rear fins like handles.

Ken: (thinking) ...Iori-kun.... Iori: Alright, let's get out of here!

Then he guns it for the surface, exploding out of the washing machine in a burst of water that washes the Kunemon away. He keeps going in the air until he smashes through a vent, taking Ken and Stingmon with him. Daisuke and XV-mon fly up after them to avoid being left behind.

None of the physics in this scene make even a lick of sense but it's cool as fuck. Iori, who has made no secret of the fact that he absolutely hates Ken's fucking guts, leaps into action to save him from drowning. In the process demonstrating the value of being part of a 仲間 nakama.

In the dub:

Cody: Armadillomon, we have to Armor Digivolve right now! Ankylomon: I'm all over it, Cody! (Ankylomon devolves) Cody: DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!!! (Submarimon Armor Digivolves) Cody: They're in that gigantic washing machine! (Cody climbs inside Submarimon) Cody: Now let's go get them! Hurry! (Submarimon somehow flies into the washing machine) Submarimon: Hold on tight! (Submarimon drills through) Submarimon: There they are! (Stingmon grabs onto Submarimon) Submarimon: You guys need a ride? Stingmon: Hurry! Ken's running out of air! Cody: Ken, we're almost there! (Submarimon explodes from the machine and washes away the Kunemon) Submarimon: Going up! (Submarimon smashes through the vent) Davis: ExVeemon follow them!

Lots of extra throwaway lines added into this sequence. That's fine, but the one thing that raises my hackles is that they took out Ken's acknowledgment of Iori. It's replaced by Stingmon's "Ken's running out of air" line.

That Ken is drowning is already apparent by the animation. The important thing in that shot is Ken recognizing Iori's heroic gesture of teamwork in protecting Ken from his own mistake.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Team is not doing well.

Coming inside has done nothing to kill the pursuit. The Flymon swarm remains hot on their tails. The swarm lets out another set of shots from their stingers, but Aquilamon flaps really hard and deflects them.

Takeru: We need to find Daisuke-kun and the others soon! Hikari: But where could they be!? Miyako: This will go faster if we split up and search! Hikari & Takeru: Okay!

Coming up on a corner, Hikari and Takeru go left while Miyako goes right. The Flymon swarm does not split up; Instead, they all follow Miyako.

Miyako: NYAGGGGGH!!! How are we supposed to look for them now!? We have to just keep running! Aquilamon: Agreed!

That didn't just backfire, it fully exploded in Miyako's face. She is now the decoy.

In the dub:

(Flymon shoot) Aquilamon: How rude! (Aquilamon deflects stingers) T.K.: There's too many of those things! We have to find the others! Kari: But where are they!? Yolei: I think we should split up and search for them! Kari: Good idea. Yolei: I'll see you in a few! (Kari and T.K. go left; Yolei goes right) Yolei: Hey uglies, this way! (The Flymon follow Yolei) Yolei: Uh-oh, I think I made them really mad now!

It's mostly the same, but Yolei distracts the Flymon on purpose. In the original, Miyako just draws the short straw and she's mad about it.

Up in the ventilation shaft, Submarimon returns to Armadimon. Ken approaches him with Stingmon.

Ken: Iori-kun! Thank you so much for saving us. Stingmon: We appreciate it, Armadimon. Armadimon: (embarrassed) No, please.... Iori: Please don't get the wrong idea, Ichijouji-san. I was merely repaying the debt from when you saved me from Thunderballmon. Daisuke: (skeptical) Is that so? Iori: YES!!! Ken: In any case, you have my gratitude.

With that settled, Ken turns his attention to Daisuke.

Ken: Motomiya-kun, a fresh batch of enemies are probably on their way. Daisuke: Right. Let's get moving.

Daisuke clearly doesn't believe Iori's justifications and I don't either. Even without the Thunderballmon incident, I don't think Iori would leave Ken to drown. I don't think his human empathy would allow it. But Iori wants to believe he would. Because he still hates Ken and resents that he had to save Ken's life.

In the dub:

Ken: Hey Cody, I've gotta thank you for saving me back there. For a few seconds, I thought I was a goner. Stingmon: That was pretty slick, Armadillomon. Armadillomon: (embarrassed) D'awwww.... Cody: That's cool, but I was just paying you back. You saved my life when we fought Thundermon, remember? I figured it was the least we could do to pay you back. Davis: Oh, yeah! Cody: (sternly) So there. Ken: (sternly) Then we're even. (Ken looks at Davis) Ken: We should get out of here before those things find out where we went. We're sitting ducks here. Davis: I agree, and we still have to find that woman!

Tonally, Cody and Ken's conversation plays out very differently. Cody's voice is gentler and he presents the Thundermon rationale more sincerely than Iori did.

"I only did it to repay a debt!" versus "Y'know, I had a debt to repay so...."

Daisuke questions Iori's motives and Ken doubles down on his gratitude. Davis seemingly forgot about the Thundermon incident, while Ken closes off and stonewalls at Cody's rationale.

Davis is also the only person in either version who even seems to remember that we were here to face off with Arukenimon. XD The challenge letter is pretty low on the totem pole of priorities.

Elsewhere in the house, Takeru and Hikari have encountered more Snimon.

Dodging around their attacks, Nefertimon opens fire.

Nefertimon: CURSE OF QUEEN!!!

She shoots two holes in one of the doors. Then she and Pegasmon flee through them. The Snimon give chase and then...?

Hikari and Takeru find themselves inside a personal office while a faint crashing sound confusingly implies the fate of the Snimon.

Takeru: It looks like a study.

Behind them, six Snimon are struggling to get through the small holes and have gotten each other stuck. However, those blades aren't just for show; Two more cut through the door, and the chase is back on.

Takeru: Take cover behind that bookshelf!

Hikari and Takeru fly behind the bookshelf and hide. There, they wait for the onslaught to find them.

Okay, but I have a question. If we use that computer to open the Digital Gate, will we return to the human world micro-sized? Or will it put us right back into the Digital World but we're kaiju-sized now?

In the dub:

(Snimon shoot at Kari and T.K.) Nefertimon: HARD RIGHT!!! (Snimon miss) Nefertimon: QUEEN'S PAW!!! (Nefertimon blows holes in the door) Kari: Nice shot! (Nefertimon and Pegasusmon fly in

There is no crashing sound implying the impact of the Snimon.

T.K.: It's a giant study! Kari: Look at the size of that computer! Izzy would have a field day with a machine like that! T.K.: We gotta hide! (Snimon cut through the door) Kari: Lucky I brushed up on my Dewey Decimal System. (Kari and T.K. hide behind the bookcase) T.K.: I think we lost them....

Some gags added but it's about the same.

Up in the vent, the flute music is playing loud and clear, XV-mon and Stingmon sprint through the vent, soon arriving at a vent.

The boys dismount their Digimon as they reach the vent.

Ken: It's that flute music we heard earlier. Iori: That's definitely the sound of a flute. Daisuke: Yeah.

Stingmon charges forward and crashes through the vent, followed shortly by XV-mon. Inside the next room is the mystery woman, playing the flute from which that sound is coming. She stops when she sees the Chosen Children in front of her.

Daisuke: So this is where you've been hiding! Ken: This time, we settle things. Woman: Oh my! You're usually such a useless whelp, but you're awfully fired up today, aren't you? Are you trying to impress your friends? Ken: WHAT!? Woman: (imitating Ken's voice) "Why? Oh why did it have to be me!?" (normal voice) You can keep wondering that for the rest of your life, you fool. Ken: Damn you....

Mystery woman addresses Ken directly. She's playing him. Goading him into a mistake, which he falls for hook, line, and sinker.

In the dub, since the flute is in the dialogue, we finally get flute music for the first time.

Ken: It sounds like someone's playing a flute! It's coming from the room beyond that vent! (They reach the vent) Ken: Dead end! The only way around it is through it. Stingmon, if you'd be so kind.... Stingmon: Gladly! (Stingmon busts the vent open) ExVeemon: What a gentleman! (The others follow after and see Arukenimon) Davis: It's Arukenimon! She's the one playing the flute! Ken: Well, I'm ready to shove that flute right up her nose. (Arukenimon stops playing) Davis: Sorry we didn't bring a housewarming gift! Ken: We're gonna end your reign of terror right here and now! Arukenimon: Such harsh words. Now where are your manners, young man? Can't you see that there's a lady present? I guess I'll have to teach you some respect! Ahahaha!

At that remark, the dub goes to its third and final commercial. We pick up where we left off on return.

Arukenimon: I overestimated you kids. If I knew you'd walk willingly into a trap, I would have done this sooner, ahaha! Ken: You're not as a smart as you think! You're cornered! Arukenimon: Oh, Ken. You're such a tough guy when you're in front of your little friends.

Arukenimon doesn't narrow in on Ken and goad him directly the way the mystery woman does. She makes broader taunts and jests for the whole group.

This time, Ken is ready to fight and after the mockery the woman's made of him, he has no reservations.

Ken: Jogress Evolution, Motomiya-kun! Daisuke: Yeah!

Daisuke takes out his D-3, ready for his part.

XV-mon: XV-MON!!! Stingmon: STINGMON!!! Both: JOGRESS SHIN---

The woman raises the flute to her lips and begins to play again, disrupting the evolution. Stingmon grabs his head, struggling briefly. Then he turns towards XV-mon. His eyes flash red and he takes a swipe at XV-mon.

Ken: (panicked) What are you doing, Stingmon!?

Stingmon hesitates, looking back at Ken. But the flute continues to play. His eyes flash red and he resumes the assault.

Iori: It's the flute! She's using the flute to control Stingmon! Woman: How very observant, little boy.

This is the secret of the flute music we've been hearing. It can control Stingmon. ...it hasn't done that up to this point, but... we're probably not missing anything. I'm sure it's fine.

In the dub:

Ken: Come on, Davis! It's time to DNA Digivolve! Davis: Yeah! You heard him, guys! Stingmon: Consider it done. (Arukenimon plays the flute) Davis: Dude, what's the deal with the flute playing? Has she lost it? (Stingmon attacks ExVeemon) Ken: What in the world are you doing, Stingmon!? (Stingmon hesitates, then goes back on the attack) Cody: It's the music from the flute! It can somehow control Stingmon! Arukenimon: Smart boy. Any requests?

"Any requests?" XD I love that. The sheer smugness of it.

Arukenimon interrupts Stingmon before they can begin to evolve. In the original, they're in the middle of Jogressing when her music rips Stingmon out of it. The stock animation evolution sequence doesn't play in either version, though, so it works either way.

But now Iori's got her number. He's ready to take her down.

It does not go well.

Iori: Armadimon, take that flute from her! Armadimon: Got it-dagyaa. Iori: DIGIMENTAL UP!!!

One Armor Evolution later, Digmon steps forward to confront the mystery woman. But she calmly and coolly continues to play her music. Suddenly, Digmon's eyes flash red and he turns back around to face the children.

Iori: N-Not Digmon too! Ken: LOOK OUT!!!

Ken tackles Iori, carrying them both away from a nasty drilling lunge from Digmon.

So, I guess that's another one Iori owes Ken. He can use it to justify the next time he helps Ken.

In the dub:

Cody: We have to get that flute away from her, Armadillomon! Armadillomon: It's time for Digmon! Cody: DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!!!

The original refrains from using the Armor Evolution theme Break Up here. Instead, as Armadimon Armor Evolves, the music we hear is an eerie instrumental music that lends to the tension. The omission highlights the dawning horror that we are making a terrible mistake.

The dub just uses the standard evolution theme.

Digmon: I'll take care of this! (Arukenimon plays her flute and turns Digmon) Cody: She's controlling Digmon too! Ken: Cody, look out! (Ken saves Cody from Digmon)

Basically the same. No notes, except the one about the music.

Stingmon tackles XV-mon while the woman mocks the children for their error.

Woman: That was very observant of you to notice the flute, but you chose the wrong evolution. Ken: What's that supposed to mean? Iori: That's it! I understand now... That flute can only control insect-type Digimon. The Gokimon and Kunemon that attacked us were also insect-type Digimon.

While we're having this revelation, XV-mon is getting his clock cleaned. Stingmon delivers a left hook to the face, knocking him back a step. Then Digmon joins in, powering up his drills.

Daisuke: If only we figured it out sooner! Woman: Sooner or later, it would have made no difference.

Stingmon grabs XV-mon from behind, locking him down in a full nelson. Digmon comes in from the front, charging in with drills ready to go.

Iori: DIGMOOOOOON!!! Ken: STINGMOOOOON!!!

The two collide, driving the drill on Digmon's nose straight into XV-mon's gut. They hold him there, drilling into him until he can't hold up anymore, then let go. XV-mon crumples to the floor holding his gut.

That's honestly some of the most horrifying fight choreography we've seen in the show. Mystery woman was not joking when she said adults don't fuck around. So far, Digmon has used his drills as missiles and to suck enemies into his Big Crack, but I think this is the first time he's ever directly applied drill-to-flesh. Good thing XV-mon's dragon hide is thick because... yick.

In any case, this has been the secret of the battles in Giga House. We thought we were trying to find and confront her. Or just trying to retreat since her trap had been strung. But we've been fighting her with every exchange.

The Gokimon, the Flymon, the Snimon, the Kunemon. They have all been punches lobbed our way by her. This whole thing has been her direct confrontation through the mysterious power of that flute.

In the dub:

Arukenimon: You children disappoint me. Of course the flute controls the Digimon but you still aren't bright enough to figure out why. Ken: Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Cody: Yep, I've got it all figured out. Ken: Huh? Cody: The flute only controls insect Digimon. That's why only Digmon and Stingmon are affected by it. it makes perfect sense! (Stingmon punches ExVeemon) Davis: So what are we supposed to do about it now!? Arukenimon: Why don't you be a sport and take your lumps, Goggle Boy.

Unsurprisingly, they cut out the drilling shot. It's implied that they're going for that move. Stingmon grabs ExVeemon in the full nelson and Digmon lunges; They keep the setup shots where Ken and Iori frantically scream their Partners' names, though the two don't say anything. But we cut away before they reach each other.

Ken's dialogue here is awkward. In the original, Iori's the one who figures this out; Ken doesn't understand what the woman is getting at. Here, they imply that Ken did crack it right alongside Cody, but then he gets confused when Cody says he got it too.

So I guess what he was "Huh"-ing about was that he thought Cody was too stupid to understand or something, and was surprised that Cody kept up? IDK

In any case, we need to talk about the dub's handling of the flute. From the beginning, Arukenimon said she was "calling some friends" to ambush the DigiDestined where Mystery Woman was directly challenging them to fight her.

Then they removed the flute music from all the scenes of the insect Digimon attacking us.

And now, here in this scene, Cody never makes the connection between the flute and the insect attacks we've been undergoing. Probably because she wasn't playing the flute in those scenes!

You can probably make a deduction about the insect ambushes over the course of this episode if you take the time to stop and think about it. But the idea from the original, that this has all been a fight with her, that the entire Giga House is her fist and she's been swinging jabs and haymakers at us left and right, doesn't really make it across.

It just feels like we've been fighting through her army of personal minions to get to her. In fact, Cody and Ken even speculated earlier that she still created all these bugs somehow even though they aren't Dark Tower Digimon. Only now that we're finally here have we begun to fight her, and she happens to have this scary flute.

It feels like we're only now beginning the boss battle, when this entire episode is supposed to be the boss battle for the arc up to this point.

As we approach the endpoint of this episode, a montage of how badly we're getting slaughtered plays out.

The Flymon remain hot on Miyako's tail, letting off another volley of stingers, which Aquilamon deflects. It's the same animation as before.

Miyako: CUT IT OUT ALREADY!!!

Hikari and Takeru's hiding place does not hold up, as the Snimon cut through the books to get to them.

And XV-mon's brutal beating at the hands of Stingmon continues, while Digmon supervises. Look, he did his drilling. He's contributed.

In the dub, Yolei's a little more composed.

Yolei: We'd better find the others soon; Their aim is getting better!

This makes sense, since she's playing decoy on purpose while Miyako just got screwed by probability.

Suddenly, Digmon drives his drills into the floor below, causing the earth to break away beneath the children.

He doesn't call his attack while being mind-controlled, and also that's not how wood splinters but okay.

The children don't fall too far, though. A spiderweb catches them, holding them fast.

Ken: I-I can't move.... Iori: Th-This is a spiderweb! Woman: Ahaha! Struggle all you like. This will be your grave. If you must blame someone for this in your final moments, blame yourselves for foolishly charging into an obvious trap.

I mean. She's got us there. We did do that. That is exactly the thing that we did do.

As she plays her flute, a Dokugumon emerges onto the web. Which I think is unfair because Dokugumon is an arachnid but here I go splitting hairs.

Daisuke: UWAUGH!!! DOKUGUMON!!!

This is where we close our episode, leaving the Chosen Children stranded in a dire fate. Wriggling in a spider's web as death closes in on them.

In the dub, the mind-controlled Digmon talks.

Digmon: Hello, boys! Cody: Digmon, don't do it! Digmon: ROCK CRACKIN'!!! (Everyone falls onto the web) Ken: Guys, I'm stuck! Cody: Me too! It's some kind of web! Arukenimon: Yes. Pardon my rudeness but there's a very good friend I'd like you to meet. (Dokugumon emerges) Davis: Ken, please tell me that's a Digimon friend of yours we've never met before and not a big, ravenous spider! Ken: Sorry, Davis. Arukenimon: Meet Dokugumon. And she's hungry. Davis: UWAUGH!!! NO!!! LET ME GO!!! (Arukenimon plays the flute and Dokugumon goes on the attack) Narrator: Will the DigiDestined get out of this sticky situation? Find out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!

The presence of an actual cliffhanger makes the narrator's job easy for him.

Assessment: At the start of this episode, the mystery woman set out to make us all look like chumps. By the end of it, I'd say she succeeded. She slaughtered us in round 1.

The tense dynamic between Ken and Iori is the best part of the episode. Iori doesn't like Ken. But in the field, you don't have the luxury to pick and choose your teammates. Iori helps and supports Ken because that's what it means to be a team, a crew, a 仲間 nakama.

A concept that Iori knows well by this point even though part of him wishes he doesn't and that Ken is learning about through Daisuke's and now Iori's behavior.

Next time... next time I can't put it off anymore. I have to figure out what the fuck I'm doing with the mystery woman's goddamn name.