#manipulated koushiro

[koushirouizumi]

“Te  tomo  , you should trai   with me. Why wo  ‘t you?” Koushiro displayed the results of his training to Tentomon, who was watching him from the side. Tentomon tried it out for himself. “Very well, Koushiro-ha  ” but right away he said, “No, this isn’t for me. Ending at ‘Koushiro-ha’ just doesn’t feel right. It feels icky.” “I see. I  deed that is a shame.”

Digimon Adventure Novel; “The Inquisitive Heart” Translation from Digital Scratch (Link in the comments)

[taichi-x-koushiro]

{D I G I M O N} Adventure (Series)/tri. ~ Inspired + K O U S H I R O Izumi x T A I C H I Yagami {KouTai} / {TaiKou} / {Taishiro[u]}

"Do you ever want to see {each other} on your day{s} off?" {For any reason?}

"Do you ever want to hear {their voice} {think about them} before you go to bed?"

"Have you ever thought that you don't want 'something' to keep them away from you?" {Do you expect them to come back?}

"...It's ENOUGH."

-H o n e y L e m o n S o d a (Series) {Original Dialogue by Mayu Murata} Modified slightly by me; x Adventure (Series)

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[kideternity]

If you aren’t stupid you go to hell is the message I'm getting from this episode of Digimon

[tobiasdrake]

Digimon Adventure 01x30 - The Digimon's Great Traversal of Tokyo / Almost Home Free

Previously on Digimon Adventure: The Chosen Children searched for the Eighth Child in Hikarigaoka's local library, where they were able to look up a copy of the OVA and remember the plot. Mammon tried to cause a ruckus when they got to the Parrotmon part but it's okay 'cause Garudamon stepped out and took care of it.

The Chosen Children and Tailmon's mercenaries have all failed to find the Eighth Child in Hikarigaoka. But the Children have learned much about how they were Chosen.

This episode comes with a trigger warning: Human adults being child predators.

We open on PicoDevimon reporting back to Vamdemon about what happened.

Vamdemon: What? Garudamon has been sighted? PicoDevimon: Yes, sir. It's been reported that the Chosen Children have arrived in this world. Vamdemon: Have you located the Eighth Child yet? PicoDevimon: We're currently raising our efforts and expanding our search perimeter.

As he speaks, we see glimpses of Tailmon and a few mercs no longer in silhouette.

Tailmon is roaming around the city, continuing her manual search from last episode.

Wizarmon is street performing at the amusement park to lure in children so he check the counterfeit Crest against a crowd.

SkullMeramon is skulking about in a trenchcoat watching children like a creep.

Gesomon is patrolling the waterways. I... guess he's looking for water children?

(Wizarmon is the stand-out smart guy of the bunch. He's letting the children come to him in an innocuous fashion. SkullMeramon, meanwhile, is likely to be reported to police by concerned onlookers. As he should; He has hostile intentions towards children.)

Vamdemon: The children must also be looking for the Eighth Child. Hurry! We cannot let the children gain the upper hand! PicoDevimon: Yes, sir!

Almost no change in the dub, with the exception of silence-breaking dialogue added to the shots of the searching Digimon.

DemiDevimon: We're looking everywhere! Air, land, and sea! We've got it covered, no problem!

I'm as confused by why the Eighth Child would be in the air as I am by why she'd be in the sea.

Then again... frame of reference. Aerial children and aquatic children are completely normal where Tailmon and PicoDevimon come from.

Meanwhile, the children make plans to leave Hikarigaoka.

Taichi: If the Eighth Child's not here in Hikarigaoka, we should hurry up and look in other places. We can't waste time here or Vamdemon will get ahead of us. Mimi: But couldn't they just be goofing off somewhere? Koushiro: No, I don't think so. The other connection between all of us is.... Sora: We all moved away from Hikarigaoka? Koushiro: Yes. Unless that is a coincidence, we should assume that the Eighth Child also moved. Taichi: So they could be in Odaiba like us? Koushiro: That is our most likely possibility. Mimi: (excited) I want to go home! Taichi: Yeah... Alright, let's head for Odaiba first!

Irony: We didn't actually need to come to Hikarigaoka and spent all that time manipulating Fujiyama for nothing. And now we have to find a way to reach Odaiba 27 miles away, because we got off our transport to Odaiba so we could come to Hikarigaoka.

The dub skips the discussion of why we're going to Odaiba. Tai is convinced right from the get-go that the Eighth Child is in Odaiba, for reasons unexplained.

Mimi: Can we get a snack before we go looking? Tai: There's no time. We've got to get to Odaiba and find that Eighth Kid before somebody else does! Mimi: How will we get there? Do you think there's any fast food places along the way? Tai: Would you knock it off about the food? Anyway, we've only got enough money for our subway tickets. Joe: Subway? Oh, wow. My parents won't let me ride the subway by myself. Tai: You're not by yourself. Now come on! Mimi: Are subways like regular trains? I mean, do they have snack cars? Tai: JUST DROP IT!!! And stick together, everybody. It can get kind of confusing down here.

They also tweak Mimi's dialogue so that Tai can yell at her. This one's a bit odd, in that it actually fits Mimi's established characterization from the original pretty well. As we know from the Kentarumon episode, Mimi's stubborn when she's hangry. So, unlike the Valley Girl bits, this bit is rooted in her original persona pretty well.

But I'm still miffed that Mimi gets three lines in this scene and they're all prompts for Tai to tell her to shut the fuck up.

Also, Joe gets one too. Pretty much the entire scene has been replaced with Tai dunking on Joe and Mimi to show how much of a boss he is. Izzy, the actual main character of this scene, doesn't even get a word in.

The Chosen Children descend into the incredibly complex Tokyo rail network.

Jou: Let's see... The fastest way to reach Odaiba is.... Mimi: (shrug) I can't tell because there's so many routes available. Koushiro: (laptop) Please wait just a minute. The fastest way to get there is... If we take the Toei #12 Line from here to Nakano-sakaue, transfer to the Marunouchi and Ginza Lines and leave from Shimbashi, the Yurikamome route will take us to Odaiba. Taichi: Okay then! (approaching ticket machine) Let's head to Nakano-sakaue first.

Glad we have Koushiro here to Computers our way through the incredibly intimidating Tokyo rail network because Jou probably would have been here all day and Mimi, I'm sorry but you are no help here.

In the dub, Joe starts us off with a quip and Mimi's still on about the food.

Joe: I just hope Myotismon has as much trouble reading this map as I do. Mimi: Okay, what do we do now!? Besides starve to death! Izzy: I'm just figuring it out. ...okay, that'll work. Now, the fastest route to Odaiba is to take the #12 train to Nagano and transfer to the Marunouchi Line. Then transfer to the Ginza and get off at Shimbashi. Mimi: ...huh? Tai: Sounds simple enough. (approaching ticket machine) Now we just have to figure out the right fare.

Surprisingly, Izzy relays Koushiro's directions for navigating the Tokyo subway system almost word for word.

He cuts Nakano-sakaue down to "Nagano". Point off for mispronouncing it, but dropping the "-sakaue" isn't necessarily wrong. Nakano-sakaue is the name of the subway station for Nakano Ward, so both ways of saying it work.

In a refreshing change of pace, this scene is completely unafraid to be in Japan. They even show us the subway map unedited, with all of its Japanese text marking the different stations intact.

While Taichi's buying tickets, the Digimon chime in.

Koromon: (hops up on the counter) Hey Taichi, what's that? Taichi: A ticket. This is what we use to ride the subway. Palmon: Subway? Patamon: What's that? Jou: Shhh! Don't talk so much in front of other people. This place isn't like your world. If anyone sees you talking, they'll cause a fuss. Sora: Listen, while you're here, you need to pretend to be stuffed animals. You can't move around, okay? I know it's going to be tough, but please bear with it. Pyokomon: Okay, I understand! I won't talk or move. It's much easier to be carried around by Sora anyway. (wiggles and sings) Hehe ~Sora~-- Sora: I just said not to move!

It's not easy being Digimon in the human world. I feel for them. I'd hate to have to pretend to be a plushie all day too.

(Oh, so that's why Mimi's so hungry. Off-model Chonky Patamon ate all the food. Now he can see through time.)

The dub follows the script until it gets to Sora and Yokomon. Pyokomon's bit is a callback to her and Sora's first episode on File Island, but the dub cut the clingy ~Sora ~Sora ~Sora conflict from the episode so the callback doesn't work here. Instead, Yokomon has an idea.

Sora: Yeah, while we're here, you've got to pretend to be toys or stuffed animals. But remember to keep still and no fidgeting. Yokomon: Here's an idea! I'll be one of those dolls you told me about. The kind where you squeeze them and they go... (wiggles and sings) ...WAHH! WAHH! WAHH! Sora: Be a doll that doesn't talk!

Once the tickets are purchased, IT'S FIGHTING TIME!!!

...wait, what?

While the Chosen Children wait for the train, Tsunomon and Koromon start chatting despite what Jou said a moment ago.

Koromon: Is this a cave? Tsunomon: It's a weird cave. Yamato: (hisses) Hey! Be quiet. Announcer: The train is arriving on time. Please remain behind the white line.

Hearing the rumbling of the approaching train, the two Baby Digimon grow concerned.

Koromon: W-What's that sound? Tsunomon: Is that a Digimon's voice!? Koromon: LOOK!!! THERE'S SOMETHING GLOWING IN THE CAVE!!! Tsunomon: That's it! It must be one of Vamdemon's minions!

Before Taichi and Yamato realize what's happening, Koromon and Tsunomon leap onto the goddamn train tracks to fight the oncoming train.

Taichi: HUH!?!? Yamato: TSUNOMON!!!

They realize their mistake once they see the train approach. It's not super clear how Koromon and Tsunomon survive this, but they're intact after it passes and seem to have pressed themselves against the back wall to avoid being hit.

Fortunately, this train is apparently not stopping here and speeds right on past. I guess that one isn't not ours.

In the dub:

Koromon: It's some kind of cave. Tsunomon: I don't like being underground. Yamato: Hey! Put a lid on it. Announcer: Attention, attention. #12 train now arriving at platform 7. Koromon: What? Where'd that voice come from. Tsunomon: You heard it!? Then it's not just inside my head! Koromon: SOMETHING'S COMING!!! Tsunomon: LOOK AT THOSE GLOWING EYES!!! IT'S ONE OF MYOTISMON'S GOONS!!! (Koromon and Tsunomon leap onto the tracks) Tai: HEY!!! Matt: Watch out!

The dub puts a commercial break right here, moments before the train threatens to splatter Koromon and Tsunomon. Which is honestly a great place for it. A+ commercial placement. Solid cliffhanger to keep the kids from changing the channel.

It also claims that this is the train we're waiting for. Which makes it odd that the train doesn't stop at our platform. Excuse you, we would like to get on, please.

The kids board the subway with their "stuffed animals".

It does not go well.

The seven Chosen Children have a row of seats to themselves on the crowded train, with their Digimon in their laps.

Taichi: (angrily) Making me worry....

Taichi punches Koromon in the head for that stunt.

In the dub, it's:

Tai: We can't take you guys anywhere!

Suddenly, they overhear a baby crying. A woman, forced to stand for lack of available seating, is trying to soothe her crying baby. Sora stands up, offering her seat to the woman.

Mother: There, there. Stop crying and be a good boy. Sora: (stands) Um, here you go. Mother: Oh! Thank you so much. (sits, patting her baby) Good boy... Good boy... Don't cry.

Suddenly, the baby stops crying. He sees Pyokomon in Sora's arms. Without warning, he reaches out and grabs her pistil.

(RUDE. In case you are not familiar with the anatomy of a flower, that orange stem sticking up from Pyokomon is her pistil. It's the female sex organ, containing her seed pod. The yellow ones are her stamens, which are male sex organs that produce pollen for germinating the pistil. Flowers have both.

This child is basically yanking Pyokomon's ovaries. Her pistil and stamen may be strictly aesthetic but it's still rude!)

The child's mother is oblivious to the yanking, having shut her eyes to enjoy a blissful moment of rest once her child stopped crying.

Sora: E-Excuse me. Mother: Huh? ...oh, I'm so sorry. Come on....

She tries to pull her child's hand off of Pyokomon's pistil, but that infuriates the boy. He starts yelling and tugging harder, as if trying to rip the pistil out.

Mochimon: ...that has to hurt....

Finally, Pyokomon reaches her breaking point and screams.

Pyokomon: THAT HURTS!!! STOP PULLING ON ME!!!

The entire train goes deathly quiet.

In the dub:

Mother: Aww, there now. Hush. Come on. Sora: (stands) Here, take my seat. Mother: Huh? Oh! Thank you! (sits) Wasn't that nice of that girl? We've been on our feet all day, haven't we? (The mom shuts her eyes and the baby starts yanking on Yokomon) Sora: Uhh! Excuse me! Mother: Huh? Oh! What are you doing now!? No... (The mother tires to pull the baby's hand away; The baby yanks harder) Mother: No no, honey! Let go now! That's the girl's toy. Come on! Honey! Motimon: Ouch, that's gotta hurt. Mother: Oh come on, honey. Let go of the girl's toy before you break it! HONEY.... Yokomon: HEY!!! WILL YOU LET GO OF ME!?!?

The mother gets some silence-breaking dialogue during the hard yanking, which comes through pretty well here. We don't really see much of the mom after that initial attempt, so the implied continued effort to control her child is good for the scene, I think.

Also, "We've been on our feet all day, haven't we?" is a lovely addition to the scene. I really like the dub's take on the mom here.

I do think the original version of Pyokomon's outburst hits harder than Yokomon's. Pyokomon breaks protocol because her pain tolerance has hit its limit and she can't take any more of this torture. Motimon tries to sell it and we do see Yokomon grimacing in pain, but Yokomon's line just sounds like she's mad that her personal space is being violated.

For a good ten seconds after Pyokomon's outburst, you can hear a pin drop. Then a kid points and shouts.

Kid: IT TALKED!!! THE DOLL TALKED!!! Sora: (lightbulb) That must have hurt! You poor thing! There, there....

Sora gently pets Pyokomon and whispers the plan to her. From here, when Pyokomon speaks, Sora covers Pyokomon's mouth with her hand and subtly moves her own lips to make it look like she's throwing her voice.

Sora: (whisper) Play along with whatever I say. Pyokomon: U-Uh-huh. Sora: (loudly) But you know, the baby only did that because he really likes you, Pyokomon! Pyokomon: Really? Sora: It's true! So forgive him for what he did, okay? Pyokomon: I'm sorry for yelling at you.

The plan works. The baby starts laughing and having a good time.

The dub starts this scene with another Good Actually silence-destroying line, with a bewildered Sora attempting to explain. Meanwhile, the pointing kid is noticeably played by Izzy's actor trying and failing to differentiate his voice by putting on a Rough Kid tone.

Sora: ...I guess my toy didn't like when you pulled on it.... Kid: Did you hear that!? That stuffed animal talked! Sora: ...AH! It worked! All that practice is paying off! Fooled 'em, didn't we? (pets Yokomon and whispers) Hush, just keep quiet and play along.

In the original, Pyokomon speaks while Sora subtly but visibly moves her lips to disguise the source of her voice. Sora holds her hand over Pyokomon's mouth to disguise the movement of Pyokomon's own mouth, so it looks like the one speaking is really Sora.

In the dub, Sora tells Yokomon to keep quiet, then she badly attempts to imitate Yokomon's voice with her subtle lip flaps.

Sora: Come on! The baby pulled your hair because he likes you, that's all! Sora-Yokomon: Oh, really? Sora: There's no reason to bite the poor thing's head off! Sora-Yokomon: Oh! I'm very sorry I shouted!

Since Sora has no experience with ventriloquism and obviously can't be throwing her voice correctly, I'm not sure why the dub ploy works. There's also no reason for her to be covering Yokomon's mouth, since Yokomon isn't saying anything.

The plan works well and the crowd buys it. In fact, the plan works too well.

Kid's Father: Oh, she's doing ventriloquism. It's really the young lady who's speaking for the doll. Isn't that amazing? Bystander 1: It's just ventriloquism. Bystander 2: I really thought it talked! Bystander 3: Obviously, it couldn't have!

The other Chosen Children, watching Sora's near-disaster with bated breath, finally exhale. Everything looks to be ov--

Kid: I want one! Dad, I want that doll! Buy it! Buy it! Buy it, Dad! Come on, buy it! Father: (gets up and approaches Sora) Excuse me, miss. Sorry to bother you, but where did you get that? Sora: W-Where...?

The other kids watch Sora with fear and horror on their faces once more. How the hell is she supposed to answer this question? Ten seconds of silence pass as Sora struggles to think of something to say.

Announcement: (bing bong) Nerima. This is Nerima. Please exit to your right. Sora: ...the... NERIMA DAIKON DEPARTMENT STORE!!! Father: Aha! Thank you!

Father, son, and every other passenger all rush out the door at once, leaving the Chosen Children alone on the train. Except the mother and baby, who wait for the rush before departing much more calmly.

Mother: (to Sora) Thank you very much. (disembarks) Pyokomon: Farewell!

At long last, we are out of the danger zone.

Over in the dub, the pointing kid manages to be even more obnoxious, and the father fills those ten seconds of silence with dialogue.

Kid: I want one! Daddy, give me that toy! I want that doll! If I don't get one RIGHT NOW I'LL START SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS!!! Father: Shhh. (gets up and approaches Sora) Excuse me, young lady. Can I ask where you bought that doll? I need one right away. Sora: Uh... Where I bought it? Father: It's not that hard a question, is it? Come on. You'll be doing me a big favor. Where did you find it? Announcement: This stop is Nerima. Please watch your step. Again, this stop is Nerima. Sora: Ohh... THE NERIMA DEPARTMENT STORE!!! Father: What? Nerima! Thanks a lot! Come on, son! (Crowd races out; Mother stands up to leave last) Mother: (to Sora) Thanks again. (disembarks) Pyokomon: Goodbye!

Nobody does pushy, entitled brats like Americans. We are the MVP of spoiled rotten children. And spoiled rotten adults, too. That the Japanese father patiently waits for Sora to come up with her answer while the American father jumps down her throat and won't let her think seems very fitting of both cultures.

Though he's actually supposed to be Japanese in both versions so... IDK.

Now that we're finally alone in the car and we've managed that crisis, the kids start to relax. Sora returns to her seat and everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief.

Sora: That was a close one. Taichi: I thought we were goners for a second there. Jou: What is the Nerima Daikon Department Store? Sora: No idea. Takeru: I'm tired.... Mimi: Now that my tension's drained, I'm starting to feel sleepy.... Yamato: Yeah, me too.... Takeru: Hey, where are we supposed to get off again? Koushiro: At Nakano-sakaue.... Takeru: Nakano... sakaue....

Coming down off the adrenaline surge and already tired from a long day, the children drift off to sleep.

In the dub:

Sora: Wow, that was a close one. Tai: Pretty weird how nuts that kid went over Yokomon. Joe: If we don't find the Eighth Child, we could go into the-- Sora: --toy business? T.K.: How much longer? Mimi: Who knows? Someone wake me when we get there. Matt: Yeah, me too. T.K.: What's the name of the stop where we're getting off again? Izzy: We get off in Nagano. T.K.: Okay... Nagano....

We lose Sora's admission that she made up the department store she just sent those people to, which is a funny punchline replaced by an awkward quip about selling toys if Myotismon kills Kari.

We also lose Mimi's exposition that coming down off the adrenaline high is why the kids are suddenly taking inappropriate naptime.

By the time the train pulls into Nakano-sakaue, the children are fast asleep.

Patamon wakes up to the announcement they've arrived.

Announcer: Nakano-sakaue. Nakano-sakaue. Please exit to your right. Patamon: Nakano...saka... Huh? Why aren't we getting off here? Palmon: Shh. Don't talk.

Patamon claps his front paws over his mouth and hushes up. The train doors close and the train continues on its way.

In the dub, an interesting thing occurs with the announcement. The sign over the door in the original has the kanji for "Nakano-sakaue" in orange lettering, with red English lettering under it that says the same.

Despite all the uncensored Japanese lettering we've seen up to this point, apparently that sign is a bridge too far. Odd place to draw the line in the sand, given that this one comes with built-in English next to it, but okay.

The dub edits it for the "Nagano" station, so that it just has large, orange English lettering. The new orange lettering spells out "Nakano-sakaue".

Announcer: This stop is Nagano. Please watch your step. Again, this stop is Nagano. Patamon: Ohh! Huh? Hey! Here's our stop! Loo-- Palmon: We're supposed to be quiet.

So chalk this up to yet another example of the people editing the animation not communicating with the scripting team, I guess. The voice saying "This stop is Nagano" plays while the Nakano-sakaue sign is front and center onscreen.

At least it's not as bad as Shogunmon.

Eventually, the children wake up to find themselves at the wrong stop.

Sora: Huh? Jou: This is... (Cut to the sign) Jou: SHINJUKU!?!? GACKKKKK!!! Taichi: WE SLEPT THROUGH OUR STOP!!! Takeru: Patamon, you were awake!? Patamon: Yes. Takeru: Why didn't you wake us up!? Patamon: Because you told us not to talk. Children: (collective heavy sigh) Jou: Should we go back to Nakano-sakaue? Koushiro: No. I think we can still transfer to the Marunouchi Line from here.

In the dub, it's Mimi that notices where they are. Tragically, she does not make angry throat noises.

Sora: Ugh... huh? Tai: Huh? Joe: Whuh? (Cut to the sign) Mimi: HOW'D WE MISS OUR STOP!?!? Patamon: All of you slept right through it. T.K.: Patamon, you were awake!? Patamon: Sure! T.K.: What's wrong with you!? Why didn't you wake us up!? Patamon: How could I? You told us not to make a sound! Children: (collective groan) Joe: What now? Go back to our stop? Izzy: No. It's out of our way, but I think we can change trains here and be okay.

With the exception of Jou's angry throat noises, this is otherwise mostly the same. The other main difference is that they give Patamon a line for T.K. to react to. In the original, Takeru just sort of... somehow knows Patamon was awake, without explanation.

So this one goes down as a rare improvement over the original.

As the kids make their way through the station, appetites begin to flare up.

Koromon: Hey, Taichi, I'm hungry.... Tsunomon: Me too.... Palmon: So am I. Taichi: Deal with it. I'm hungry too, y'know. Mimi: I want to eat a hamburger.

Yes, Mimi is actually craving a hamburger in the original. "Watashi hamburger tabetai." That is not a dub line change. The thought of a hamburger, in fact, brings the group to a halt.

Sora: A hamburger? Yamato: I haven't had that in a long time.

Then they just stop. Looking to one another with glum expressions; The weight of this simple pleasure they've been deprived for so long hanging over everybody's heads. Seven seconds of silence pass as everyone processes what they've been missing. Finally broken when Mimi offers everyone a pleasant smile to try and raise the mood.

The dub plays this straight from the start, but then breaks script at Mimi's line and extends conversation to break the silence that follows.

Koromon: How much longer? I'm getting awful hungry, Tai! Tsunomon: Yeah, I'm starving! Palmon: Famished! Tai: It can wait. Hey, I'm hungry too, y'know! Mimi: I keep visualizing cheeseburgers. And I don't even eat cheeseburgers! (Group stops, beat) Matt: It has been a long time since any of us have eaten. And our Digimon get weak when they're hungry. (beat) Tai: ...okay.... Mimi: (pleasant smile)

Tonal shift. The English scene uses the burgers to point out that the kids haven't eaten since arriving in the human world, rather than that they've been away at war for several months. This is a tactical conversation, rather than a lingering realization of mutual hardship.

Additionally, it's Tai that cheers Mimi up by agreeing to get food rather than Mimi attempting to cheer everyone else up by putting on a brave face.

Two members of our nakama, however, are suspiciously absent from this conversation.

Jou and Koushiro navigate a crowd of people, trying to find their way.

Koushiro: The Marunouchi Line.... There are a lot of stations here. Jou: (calling over the noise) LISTEN UP, EVERYONE!!! BE SURE TO STAY CLOSE BEHIND US AND.... Uh.... (beat) Jou: (meekly) Hey, Koushiro? Koushiro: What is it, Jou-san? Jou: (meekly) Everybody's gone. Koushiro: Eh!? Jou: Honestly, where did they all go!? Koushiro: Oh, right. (pulls out Digivice) If we use this, we can find where everyone is right away! (looks at it) Wait. Why isn't it reacting? It worked fine when we were in the Digimon's world. Jou: Maybe it broke when we got here. Koushiro: (shakes the Digivice) That can't be right.

Koushiro tries shaking his Digivice to rattle it into working. I see he's finally beginning to side with Taichi on the topic of percussive maintenance.

As they walk, a woman in cosplay offers Jou a free sample of something.

Woman: Here you go.

Gomamon opens his mouth and happily bites it out of her hand.

Woman: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! (beat) Jou: AHHHHHHHHHH!!! THIS IS A TOY!!! A TOY!!!

Jou very unsuspiciously runs like hell while screaming "It's a toy" over and over at the top of his lungs. We are doing such a good job of keeping a low profile. :D

In the dub, Izzy and Joe seem to have psychically predicted that we'd be going for food because they are not looking for the Marunouchi line.

Joe: This place is a zoo! And not a restaurant in sight. The first one to see someplace to eat, give a shout, okay? ...huh? (beat) Joe: Oh, uh, hey, Izzy? Izzy: What is it? You see something? Joe: The other guys. They're gone. Izzy: WHAT!?!? Joe: I can't believe this! They ditched us! (groan) Izzy: Okay, okay. Don't panic. (pulls out Digivice) As long as we have this, we can always find them. (looks at it) Huh? That's funny. Why isn't it working? You think something might have happened to it when we came back to the real world? Joe: All I know is that this is one of those days where everything goes wrong. Izzy: (shakes the Digivice) Come on!

He also has a different terrible excuse for the sample incident.

Woman: Free samples! Gomamon: (chomp) Woman: AHHHHHHHHH!!! (beat) Joe: Uh... BAD DOG BAD DOG!!! (runs like hell)

So it seems like, in the dub version, Koushiro and Jou were just offscreen during the last scene and then this one takes place chronologically after. Tai and the others ditched them once they'd all decided to go look for food.

This is particularly weird, given how Jou will react to them finding food later in the episode.

In the original, they weren't in the scene because they'd already gotten separated. Koushiro and Jou were not privy to the hamburger depression spiral.

Jou and Koushiro leave the subway to look for the rest of the group. We're treated to an ominous and tense sequence of Jou and Koushiro hurrying down the sidewalk one way while SkullMeramon in his trenchcoat comes around the other side of the building.

As they approach collision, suddenly Jou spots the other kids. Taichi and the others are eating hamburgers in an upper floor of a building across the street, visible through a window.

Jou: AAAAAAAUGH!!! There they are! Koushiro: EHHHHHH!?!?

Against all odds and reason, despite the Digivice trackers not functioning, Jou manages to find the other kids with nothing but the notion that they're probably somewhere in Shinjuku to go off of.

(This would make way more sense if the trackers still worked. Why turn them off, show? Is it because you left a Digivice at Hikari's house during Taichi's visit and then realized that her having that would completely destroy this entire Search for the Eighth Child plotline?)

I guess his Senpai Sense told him where to go. His wards are kinda misbehaving....

In the dub, Joe and Izzy's exclusion continues to be extremely rude for reasons unknown.

Joe: Huh!? LOOK!!! THEY'RE EATING WITHOUT US!!!

Fucking jerks. They'd better have a good explanation for this.

Suddenly, Jou and Koushiro get the green light to go. Miraculously, a pair of workers carrying a large painting walk by, with the painting obscuring them from SkullMeramon as they pass in front of him. Jou and Koushiro continue on their way and SkullMeramon on his, neither aware of the other's presence.

Inside the restaurant, five of seven Chosen Children enjoy the first taste of greasy Western fast food they've had in years.

Taichi: Ahhh! Delicious! Mimi: So good! Sora: I almost forgot what this tasted like! Tsunomon: This isn't fair, Yamato! You get to eat tasty stuff like this every day! Yamato: Be a little quieter while you're eating. What if the other customers see you? Mimi: No one is paying attention to us, though.

Jou and Koushiro enter and approach their table.

Mimi: Huh? Takeru: It's Jou-san and Koushiro-san! Taichi: Hey! You guys should get something to eat too! The food's amazing! Jou: (quietly fuming) You... You guys didn't use your fare money for this, did you? Mimi: (cheerful) Yeah! We used all of it!

Jou fucking drops Gomamon on the floor and hangs his head, despondently groaning and shaking.

Sora: Sorry. We just couldn't resist the temptation of hamburgers. Jou: A-All of you... (eruption) WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU ALL THINKING!?!?

Suddenly, Jou's stomach rumbles, undermining his outburst. He slowly turns beet red, then storms off to go order food.

Jou: (furiously) I'll eat. I'll eat using ALL OF THE MONEY THAT I HAVE!!!

Guys, I think we broke Senpai.

Fujiyama was right when he tried not to let us go to Hikarigaoka. Now we're stranded in Shinjuku burning our fare money on McDonalds.

In the dub:

Mimi: I feel like a new woman! Tai: Man! Tastes great! Mimi: Yum-ilicious! Sora: Boy, I sure needed this! Tsunomon: You people are lucky! Yum yum! You get to eat this stuff every day! Matt: A little louder, why don't you? There's a couple of people that aren't staring yet. Mimi: Actually, nobody noticed yet but Matt's right, you should-- (gasps, seeing Joe and Izzy enter) Ohhh! Patamon: Uh-oh. T.K.: Joe! Izzy! Well, it's about time. Tai: Hey, what are you guys waiting for? Order something! Joe: How? When you guys have got all the money? Huh? Mimi: Whoops! We went and spent it all! Joe: (drops Gomamon, hangs head, and starts shaking) Sora: See, we were all so hungry, we ordered the super duper combos. Joe: Great. You spent it all? (eruption) THAT WAS ALL THE MONEY WE HAD IN THE WORLD!!! (Joe suddenly stops for no clear reason. He slowly turns beet red, then storms off) Joe: (muttering) Of all the dumb, greedy, selfish little things. It's unbelievable. These guys are supposed to be my friends! My friends! My friends!

Completing the dub-exclusive saga of Joe and Izzy being on Team Restaurant, it turns out he's upset in this version because they spent all the money on food for themselves and didn't get him anything. After ditching him and Izzy in the subway.

This scene is super ambiguous with regard to how malicious the other kids are being. On the "This is unapologetic bullying", we have the fact that they ditched Joe and Izzy in the subway to begin with. Why did they ditch them?

Patamon even gives out a little "Uh-oh" when Joe enters, like he's realizing they're about to be caught red-handed betraying Joe and Izzy. That "Uh-oh" is peculiar if they aren't doing anything wrong.

They just. Stole away with all the money, then burned it all on themselves and let Joe and Izzy starve. Fucking assholes. Joe's usually a target for the American group's bullying but what did Izzy do to deserve this? He's been trying to help them navigate the subway! Pricks! All of them pricks!

...part of me appreciates that Mimi gets to be on this side of the bullying for once.

But on the other hand, Tai's just like, "Hey, order food!" when he sees Joe. So. Like. It's possible they just got separated, like in the original. And also Tai somehow doesn't know they inexplicably pooled their money in this version, even though one of them has the entire money pool? I guess?

Who did we trust to carry the money pool? Because that person is still a complete fucking asshole. That kid knew they were screwing Joe and Izzy, even if the others forgot somehow. That kid should have said something when they were all ordering "super duper combos".

Probably goes without saying that I like the Senpai Meltdown version better, right? Because if they really did maliciously ditch Joe and Izzy, steal all the money, and go splurge on themselves, that is unacceptable character assassination of every single kid at this table. They would not fucking do that.

They made questionable choices in the original too, but they aren't actively hurting other members of their nakama in the process. Jou and Koushiro can still eat. This slap in the face to Joe actually made me angry.

Anyways. Moving along.

While Jou is furiously ordering his own food, Koushiro checks his Digivice to find that it's showing radar blips for everyone now.

Koushiro: The Digivice is reacting. Sora: It's because everyone's here, right? Koushiro: No. I mean, when I looked at it earlier, it wasn't reacting at all. Sora: That's strange. Koushiro: Maybe it only works at short distances in this world.

You were also in the subway when you checked it, Koushiro. We should consider the possibility that you had bad phone reception.

This is the human world. We have signal limitations. You can't coast on the fabric of reality itself being made of wifi anymore.

(This makes it even weirder that the writers turned off Digivice Tracking for the Shinjuku search then turned it back on right after they miraculously found everyone.)

Mimi: Hey, more importantly, where do we go from here? Takeru: Yeah, we don't have any money so we can't ride the trains anymore. Yamato: How do we get to Odaiba for free? Taichi: Hehehehe... Leave that to me! I have a fool-proof plan. Yamato: (curiously) Do you, now?

In the dub, Izzy's chat with Sora has no changes. T.K. brings up an idea for how to get home.

Mimi: That's great but, meanwhile, what are we going to do now? T.K.: We start walking. They won't let us back on the train without any money. Matt: I'm sure not looking forward to walking all that way. Tai: Ha! I know a way that won't cost us a penny! Just leave everything to me! Matt: (sarcastic) Oh, great. You're a genius.

I like that they discuss walking in the dub, because it is a viable option. It would suck but Shinjuku is close enough to Odaiba that we can walk if we must.

The kids are about 9 miles from home right now. It would take them probably 3-4 hours to get there, but they're now well-fed and they're all at least somewhat athletic after several months of exploring the Digimon World on foot. It would be nice if an alternative means of transit could be employed, but we should at least consider walking.

It can't be worse than Etemon's desert.

The kids head outside to put Taichi's master plan into action.

Taichi holds out his thumb to hitchhike, but the cars speed right on by.

Taichi: HEY!!! SOMEONE GIVE ME A RIDE!!!

Then he tries jumping, screaming at the top of his lungs, and flailing his limbs like a wildman for attention.

Taichi: HEY HEY HEY HEY!!! COME ON!!! LET ME IN!!! Yamato: Oh, come on. Hitchhiking in this modern day and age? Koushiro: It's not as easy as it looks on TV.

A car almost hits Taichi because he's out too far in the road. They honk angrily at him while he screams back at them.

Car: HONK HONK!!! Taichi: THAT'S DANGEROUS, YOU MORON!!! Yamato: Speak for yourself. Jou: It will take three days for Taichi to get us a ride. Koushiro: Agreed. Taichi: I'd like to see you try it, then! Jou: YEEP!!! U-Us!?

The dub cuts the shots of Taichi holding out his thumb to hitchhike. We go straight to Tai jumping and flailing his limbs.

Tai: HELP!!! POLICE!!! MY CAT IS STUCK IN A TREE IN ODAIBA AND I'VE GOT TO GET THERE RIGHT AWAY SO I CAN GET HER DOWN!!! HEY!!! Matt: The police!? That's his brilliant idea!? Izzy: If the police do stop, they'll lock him up for disturbing the peace. Car: (nearly hits Tai) HONK HONK Tai: HEY!!! I've got the right of way! Matt: (sarcastic) Looking good, Tai. Joe: Good grief. At this rate, we could be sitting here all day. Izzy: And night. Tai: THEN YOU TRY AND GET US A RIDE!!! Joe: Me!? No way! Tai: How about you, Matt!? You think you're so smart!

I'm going to guess this was edited because they didn't want children to see their heroes hitchhiking and try to copy it, or something like that. The 90's were really nervous about imitable acts on children's television.

It's the reason Spider-Man could grab a crate with his webs and smash it on a bad guy's head but was forbidden from throwing a punch. Children can't grab crates with webbing but they can throw punches, and parents thought if they saw Spider-Man punch someone, they might start punching people.

So now Tai's plan to get to Odaiba is to scream at random passing cars that he wants the police. You know, they probably had a phone back in the diner. You could call the police. On the phone.

Taichi makes Jou and Koushiro try next, in retaliation for their mockery. They both awkwardly stick out their thumbs.

Jou & Koushiro: ...y...yay?

Multiple cars speed by and honk at them. Realizing this isn't working, they both exchange uncomfortable glances, then take a deep breath.

Jou & Koushiro: Ready. Set.

And then they begin screaming at the top of their lungs and flailing their limbs like wildmen.

Jou & Koushiro: YAY-AY-AY-AY-AY-AY-AY-YIIIIII!!!

And it fucking works. A car pulls up to the restaurant to let them in.

It's. Uh. It's a taxi. The taxi closes its doors a moment after, presumably after being informed they do not have money, and drives away. Jou and Koushiro hang their heads in failure while the other kids laugh.

(Still better than Taichi managed.)

Yamato takes the third attempt.

It does not go well.

Yamato takes a deep breath and slowly, reluctantly, puts out his thumb. The instant his thumb is raised, a pedophile pulls up to the curb.

Yamato: (blush) Woman: (sultry) Hi~! Come in, little boy. Yamato: (blush intensifies)

Yes, she is doing graspy fingers with that hand up there. It's incredibly uncomfortable. Cut immediately to Yamato reporting to the others, still blushing and bowing his head in embarrassment.

Taichi: WHY DID YOU SAY NO!?!? Yamato: WE COULDN'T ALL FIT IN THAT CAR!!!

Taichi and Mimi both grin and giggle at Yamato, implicitly teasing him for what they all know just happened.

Asshole behavior from the both of them but in their defense, children don't know better. They don't have the perspective to understand how fucked up that was. That's why it's the responsibility of adults to protect them from shit like this. Yamato was just accosted by a legitimate Stranger Danger.

No surprise: The dub heavily edits this scene to remove the pedophile. Matt stands there for a moment, but can't even bring himself to... do whatever he would do since we aren't hitchhiking. He just turns right around to the others in failure, with a blush of embarrassment.

Tai: I'm waiting! Matt: (turns around in surrender) Tai: NOT SO EASY, IS IT, MATT!?!? Matt: WELL, AT LEAST MY CAT'S NOT STUCK IN A TREE!!

Then Tai and Mimi grin and giggle at him, presumably entertained by his snappy comeback.

The dub then puts Izzy and Joe's attempt here, moving it to third place after Matt's. Like Tai, their initial thumb-out try is cut so their attempt at hitchhiking can be disguised as something else: They're intentionally trying to hail a taxi despite being broke.

Joe & Izzy: (deep breaths, then flailing) HEY HEY TAXI TAXI OVER HERE TAXI HEY TAXI TAXI Taxi: (pulls up) You kids want a cab? Joe & Izzy: YEAH!!! Taxi: You got any money? Joe & Izzy: ...no.

This was almost as bad an idea as hailing the police. I don't know why they thought they could take a taxi for free.

Finally, Sora and Mimi take their turn.

Sora & Mimi: Take us to Odaiba! Jou: It will definitely work this time. Koushiro: Girls are better at this. Mochimon: That's right. The men will be all over them! Koromon: Is that how it works, Taichi? Taichi: Yep!

Sure enough, a blue minivan pulls over pretty quickly. We don't hear the conversation between Sora and Mimi and the occupant of the car.

Takeru: Someone stopped! (Sora and Mimi turn towards the others and give them okay signs) Jou: Yes! It's okay! Taichi: Hehe! Piece of cake! Koromon: (awestruck) So that's how it works....

Teaching Koromon very dangerous behaviors here. We have learned nothing from Yamato's attempt.

Dub Sora and Mimi don't even get to make an attempt. The driver of the minivan is reimagined completely. The car just pulls up all of a sudden, unprompted by anything. They even edited the footage to erase Sora and Mimi with their signs from the scene of him pulling up.

Driver: Sora!? Sora: It's my cousin! Hi, Duane! Duane: Need a lift? (Sora and Mimi turn towards the others and give them okay signs) Mimi: YAAAAAY!!! Sora: Alright! Mimi: GIRL POWER!!!

Mimi, how is Sora having a cousin a triumphant moment of girl power? Why are you even over at the car?

The dub then moves the scene of the boys grossly commenting on the girls' ability to lure in vehicles to after "Duane" shows up.

T.K.: Her cousin!? Joe: What are the odds of that happening? Izzy: One in 4.2 million. Motimon: Whatever! I'm just glad we have a ride! Koromon: Excuse me, but what's a cousin? Tai: Skip it.

Just like that, the hitchhiking sequence is complete and the censors can go cry themselves to sleep in a closet somewhere for how much work that was. (Wait 'til we get to Pinocchimon.)

As the minivan makes its way, the visibly unhappy driver calls out:

Driver: Those of you in the back! Everyone in the back: Yes?

Small note: He's trying to address the boys, but Japan's frequently gender-neutral language causes a small miscommunication and Sora answers with them.

Driver: You're extras that Sora-chan and Mimi-chan brought with them. Understood? Boys: (resigned) Yes, sir. We're extras. Driver: Extras better keep quiet. Otherwise, I'll dump you on the side of the highway or something. Boys: (resigned) Yes, sir. We'll be quiet.

The car pulls up to a red light.

Driver: Would you like some candy, Mimi-chan? Mimi: Yes! Driver: (gives a candy to Mimi) You too, Sora-chan. Sora: Thank you.

As the driver passes the candy back, Pyokomon's eyes follow it. She opens her mouth, wanting, but behaves herself and doesn't say anything. Sora, seeing what Pyokomon wants, quickly feeds the candy to Pyokomon rather than eating it herself.

Taichi whispers to Sora from the back.

Taichi: (whispers) What's the deal with this guy? He pisses me off. Sora: (whispers) It can't be helped. After all, he is taking us to Odaiba. Jou: (whispers) Actually, are we sure that he's taking us to Odaiba?

Senpai coming in with the real questions now that it's too late to back out. He really shouldn't have let us do this to begin with. What would Fujiyama say, Jou? He trusted you.

In another brief near-encounter with one of Tailmon's mercenaries, Wizarmon, carrying balloons, leads a group of children over the crosswalk in front of this creep's car.

Mimi, too, feeds her candy to Palmon rather than eating it herself.

In the dub, Duane lays down the same obnoxious rules. Kinda weird that Mimi's riding shotgun in Sora's cousin's vehicle, gotta say.

Duane: Okay, here's the rules. I'm gonna say this once, so listen! Everyone in the back: Yeah? Duane: You're only here 'cause Sora's my cousin. You're like her luggage. Boys: (resigned) Yeah. We're like her luggage. Duane: And luggage doesn't make a sound. You got me? Or else it's liable to get itself thrown out of the car, right? Boys: (resigned) Right. Luggage doesn't make a sound. Duane: (to Mimi) You want some gum? Sugarless. Mimi: Sure. Duane: (gives one to Mimi) How about you, Sora? Sora: Thanks, Duane. (takes the gum and feeds it to Yokomon) Tai: (whispers) Hey, Sora, I think your cousin's a major lame-o. Sora: (whispers) He's sorta the black sheep of the family. But he's giving us a lift, so be nice. Tai: (whispers) I will! But just make sure he takes us to Odaiba.

Jou's concern about Stranger Danger running off with us is a valid thing to worry about. Not sure where Tai thinks Duane is going to take us, though.

Also, the weirdness of Mimi being up front continues. Why isn't she luggage? Is it for creepy reasons? I bet it's for creepy reasons.

While Tailmon's mercenaries continue expanding their search of Tokyo, PicoDevimon rides the ferry and complains.

PicoDevimon: Vamdemon-sama's always beating and shouting at me. It won't get better unless I can achieve something soon. Where could that kid be?

Over in the dub, he's having a crisis.

DemiDevimon: How did I ever get into this!? Knocking myself out searching for some pipsqueak kid! I've got half a mind to chuck this whole lousy job! But... The master might not like that....

I feel DemiDevimon. This job sucks. Aimlessly wandering around the city hoping to stumble onto a person is the worst way to find someone. The Eighth Child is a needle in a haystack. A haystack that is hostile to discovery of your true identity.

So. Like. A haystack full of bees. And fourteen wasps.

In the car, the nameless driver blasts deafening music. Mimi tries to get his attention.

Mimi: E-Excuse me, Onii-san! Driver: (head banging to the music) Mimi: ONII-SAN!!! Driver: Eh? Did you say something? Mimi: COULD YOU PLEASE TURN DOWN THE VOLUME!!! Driver: Eh? What did you say? Mimi: VOLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUME!!! Driver: Bathroom? You need to go? Mimi: THAT IS NOT WHAT I SAAAAAAAAAAAID!!!

In Japan, it's common to use respectful familial terms like onii-san to address older people. By addressing the driver as Onii-san, Mimi is respectfully addressing him as an older man, but not so much older that otosan (father) or ojisan (grandfather) would be more appropriate.

Before this argument can continue, the driver's music is interrupted by a news broadcast.

Reporter: We interrupt this broadcast for important news. A few hours ago in the Nerima district, a bombing occurred near the housing complexes of Hikarigaoka. This may have been responsible for putting telephones, wires, and optical cables in Hikarigaoka into temporary disservice. Investigations are underway in the local area. We will bring you a news update if anything is uncovered. In other news, unconfirmed sources have insisted that an elephant and a huge bird were witnessed at the scene of the crime. Investigation into these claims is also currently underway. Driver: Whoa! An elephant! Freaky. It must have escaped the zoo! Hehe! Reporter: There is some speculation that this incident may be related to the terrorist bombing that occurred four years ago in Hikarigaoka. To those just tuning in, a few hours ago in the Nerima district, a bombing occurred near the housing complexes of Hikarigaoka....

Haha. Hahaha. Hahahahaha we are wanted fugitives that's great.

In the dub, Duane calls Mimi "babe", confirming that she's up front for creepy reasons.

Mimi: Excuse me! Do you mind? Duane: (head banging to the music) Mimi: EXCUSE ME!!! Duane: Oh, what's up, babe? Mimi: THE RADIO'S KIND OF LOUD!!! Duane: The tunes are kinda what!? Mimi: LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUD!!! Duane: The radio? It's too loud? Mimi: MAYBE JUST A LITTLE!!! (news report interrupts) Reporter: And now for a news update. Officials have yet to find a clear explanation for the devastating explosion that rocked the Highton View Terrace apartments in the Nerima district earlier today. Power in the area is still out and the injured are still being counted after the bizarre incident. While official sources have offered no further information, there are reports of several eyewitness accounts. However, these accounts have only served to further mystify investigators. The details of their accounts differ but several of these eyewitnesses agree that an elephant and something described as a giant firebird were seen in the vicinity. Duane: (laughing) A giant WHAT!?!? Firebird!? Hehe, you gotta love the crazies in this town, HAHAHA!!! Reporter: When asked about the accounts, officials would give no comment. A similar incident took place at the Highton View Terrace Apartments four years ago. It's unknown if there is any connection between the two.

Mostly the same, but of note: This is actually darker in the dub. The dub blames the electrical chaos in Hikarigaoka on Mammon which isn't entirely wrong. The original instead talks about a power outage and "still counting the injured", meaning there were a lot of human casualties from the fighting between Mammon and Birdramon/Garudamon.

According to the dub, while we were drifting in and out of OVA flashbacks, people were exploding and being crushed by debris offscreen.

You know, it's funny the driver mentions going to the bathroom because Koromon suddenly has an emergency right there in the car. Taichi manages to dodge aside just before Koromon would have shit on his lap, causing it to hit the seats instead.

Driver pulls over and everyone evacuates immediately to escape the smell.

Jou: GAAAH IT STINKS!!! Driver: (furious) ...you bastards... WHO THE HELL JUST TOOK A DUMP INSIDE MY BELOVED CAR!?!? Taichi: ...sorry, I-- Sora: ME!!! IT WAS ME!!!

Sora takes the fall for Koromon, likely realizing that the guy isn't going to treat her the way he would one of the "extras".

Her lie is terrible, of course. She was in the passenger side of the second row, while Koromon pooped in the center seat of the back row. It's actually quite impressive, given that Taichi was in the back row passenger side and jerked away towards the center, which would push Koromon towards the door. But Jou was sitting in the center seat there.

In order to make this happen, Koromon would have had to leap for it, hurdling Taichi to dive-bomb projectile-shit at Jou, who clearly scrambled out of the way as Koromon deposited right between his legs. I take it back, this is way worse than ditching Joe at lunch.

I guess he panicked and was hoping Senpai would take care of it.

In any case, Driver takes a moment to process the claim that a girl like Sora would do something so vulgar.

Sora: I'm so sorry. I'll be sure to clean up all of it! Driver: ...LIAR!!! I know you'd never do something like that, Sora-chan! The one sitting in the back was... you, right!?

The driver correctly identifies Jou as the occupant of that seat.

Jou: Eep!? Driver: Don't try and fool me with that nice guy face of yours!

The driver grabs Jou angrily by the his collar. Koushiro tries to pull him off.

Koushiro: Please stop! Driver: SHUT UP!!!

The driver backhands Koushiro away, sending him stumbling back into the barricade. Both barricade and Koushiro go over the edge, plunging off the bridge.

In a subtle moment of characterization, despite being in the clutches of this (rightfully angry but still) asshole, Jou-senpai is more concerned with Koushiro's wellbeing than his own. His eyes are on Koushiro after the backhand, and he screams when Koushiro goes over the edge.

The dub, for once, lets a poop be a poop. They don't even edit out the onscreen shot of it. I guess there was no way they were going to be able to claim it was hair gel or whatever.

Duane: WHOA!!! WHAT IS THAT!?!? Tai: Koromon, you couldn't wait!? Duane: Okay, who did it!? HUH!?!? WHICH ONE OF YOU MADE A MESS ON MY NEW SEAT COVERS!?!? Tai: ...I'm sorry, I-- Sora: RIGHT HERE!!! I'm the one! Duane: Huh? Sora: I'll clean it up. I'll even detail it for ya! Duane: ...RARGH!!! Don't try covering up for these losers! Which one of 'em was it!? (Driver looks around, then spots Joe) Duane: YOU!!! Mr. Peepers! IT WAS YOU, WASN'T IT!?!? Izzy: Hey, let him go! He didn't d-- Duane: Back off! (backhand)

Sora trying to take the fall works just as well for Cousin Duane as it does with the creep who wanted to be alone with minor girls. The sentiment is pretty similar: She knows he won't lash out at her the way he would the others, so she steps up to try and de-escalate.

They did cut out the driver's reasoning for blaming Jou, though. Duane just seems to select him arbitrarily.

They also put another well-timed commercial break in right as Izzy goes over. Once again, good spot for a cliffhanger..

As Koushiro goes over the edge, Motimon suddenly evolves into Tentomon to catch him by the ankle. Trying with all his might to lift Koushiro. Unfortunately, something else is lurking in the river, which notices the Chosen Child suspended in the air.

Tentomon: (catch) Koushiro: Tentomon! (They drop a foot sharply) Tentomon: Ack! Heavy.... (Gesomon explodes from the water) Tentomon: IT'S GESOMON!!! Koushiro: Gesomon!?

Gesomon is an Adult-stage Virus-type Mollusk Digimon. Their name comes from the Japanese word gesou, which are the tentacles of a squid.

Gesomon is not a Nightmare Soldier. They're from the Deep Savers line; One of the few non-Nightmare Soldier's we'll be facing in the Tokyo sub-arc.

Narrator: Gesomon. A Mollusk-type Virus Digimon. Their special attack, Deadly Shade, paralyzes their enemies! Driver: AHHHH!!! A SQUID BAKEMONO!!! (runs away) Gomamon: I can handle ocean Digimon!

Remember bakemono, shapeshifting yokai who impersonate people, animals, and objects? The driver accuses Gesomon of being a bakemono in the guise of a squid. Which. Isn't that far off, really.

In the dub, Tentomon quips about Izzy's weight.

Tentomon: I've got you, Izzy! (catch) Izzy: WAAAAAUGH!!! Thanks, Tento! (They drop a foot sharply) Tentomon: Eugh, you had to have that extra side of chili fries, didn't you? Izzy: Hey, what's that!? (Gesomon explodes from the water) Tentomon: Yow, it's Gesomon! Izzy: It's what!? Tentomon: (rundown) Gesomon. Take a bit of everything nasty that lives underwater, stick them together, and that's him. Duane: YOU KIDS ARE ON YOUR OWN!!! (runs away) Gomamon: Good riddance! You were a lousy driver anyway!

Izzy didn't get to eat chili fries. He and Joe went hungry. I have no idea what Tentomon is talking about. Unless they were lying to Joe about spending all the money and then bought Izzy a meal after Joe left? I guess that's what happened.

Man, this dub plot point just gets worse and worse.

Gomamon hits the water and evolves into Ikkakumon.

Driver: AHHHHHHHHHH THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!!!

While creepy driver offscreen becomes the next person to shit himself, Ikkakumon attacks, bashing Gesomon back with a headbutt. Gesomon tries to slap one of their tentacles down from above. Ikkakumon sidesteps, then fires a Harpoon Vulcan point-blank through another of Gesomon's tentacles. The missile penetrates Gesomon's claw and detonates, blowing the limb to shreds.

In the dub, Duane bailed much more concretely than Driver so he doesn't get to scream and cry about Ikkakumon's arrival. What we get is a line from Tentomon while he and Izzy flutter offscreen.

Tentomon: I think we'll just get out of the way!

Like Mammon, Gesomon is one of those bestial Digimon that doesn't speak, but the dub lets him nonetheless call attacks in English. When he tries to slam his tentacle down on Ikkakumon, he calls it "Coral Crusher".

This extremely public kaiju brawl draws spectators.

A crowd gathers around the Chosen Children on the bridge.

Bystander 1: Senpai, look at that! Bystander 2: Are those kaiju!? No way! Bystander 3: Dad, get the camcorder! HURRY!!! Bystander 4: They're pretty well made. Bystander 5: Do you think they're real? Bystander 4: That's impossible. This must be some kind of event.

Meanwhile, in a nearby cafe on an upper floor of a building, three girls have a bird's-eye vantage of the kaiju brawling in the river.

Girl 1: It's so annoyi-- Girl 2: EH!?!? WHAT IS THAT!?!? Girl 3: Awww, they're so cute!

At a rest stop, one salaryman gets a drink from a vending machine while another reclines on a bench; The fight raging behind him. The first salaryman suddenly sees the fighting and stops in his tracks.

Salaryman 2: What's wrong? Salaryman 1: (sigh) I can't even. (drink)

I guess this is happening now.

XD That salaryman is the entire vibe of my generation.

In the dub, it's ads.

Bystander 1: HOLY COW!!! WHAT'S GOING ON!?!? Bystander 2: They must be advertising something! Bystander 3: Advertising something!? Get out of here! Bystander 4: Maybe they're shooting a movie! Bystander 3: I don't see any cameras! Bystander 4: Oh well. Maybe they're just rehearsing.

Bystander 3, get out of here with your naysaying. Also, Bystander 2 was ahead of his time. Modern-day Digimon would stop what they're doing every five minutes to tell you about Surfshark.

Girl 1: And so then do you know what he said? Girl 2: OH! WHAT'S THAT!?!? Girl 3: What's going on over there!?

And Zero Fucks Salaryman remains a legend.

Salaryman 1: Rough day at work, huh? Salaryman 2: Eh, you know. Same old, same old. (drink)

Finally, Ikkakumon strikes the killing blow: Stabbing Gesomon straight through the head with his horn and driving him down into the water. We're spared any shots of impalement, as Gesomon implicitly dissolves into pixel dust offscreen after being submerged.

Since Gesomon dies underwater, the bystanders are also spared from having to see that. The only confirmation of Gesomon's death is that the fight music dies down and Gesomon's counterfeit Crest is seen floating down the river.

(Another Digimerc isn't going home.)

Bystander: (disappointed) What the hell? It's already over!? Driver: ...oh, right! The kids!

Too late for him, the kids are already gone. I guess he'll have to clean Koromon's poop out of his car by himself.

(Honestly, probably for the best. I'm not saying it's good that we pooped in his car, but Mr. "You're all just Sora-chan and Mimi-chan's luggage!" did not have good intentions and was probably going to pull some dudebro shit when we got to Odaiba. So bailing on him in the chaos is a good idea.)

The dub adds a silence-breaker when Ikkakumon stabs Gesomon.

Bystander 1: My money's on the big hairy one!

Then, after Gesomon's implied disintegration:

Bystander 1: (same as the previous comment) Aww, they're gone. Too bad! Bystander 2: Man, did you guys see that? Duane: Sora? HEY, SORA!!! Where'd all those kids go!?

Dub Sora is not so lucky as original Sora, as she will most certainly get an earful from furious relatives over the poop we left in Duane's car.

With new transportation options opened up, the children tie logs to Ikkakumon and swim to Odaiba. It's Jou's Digimon so he gets the seat of honor. Sora and Mimi get to ride on Ikkakumon's back while the boys take the logs.

Sexist, but they were the ones who got us this far by putting up with being leered at by a pervert. If we'd gone with the convertible lady then maybe Yamato could be on Ikkakumon's back.

Yamato: We drew a big crowd back there.... Taichi: Couldn't be helped. Oh, well! It'll all work out. Jou: Set course to Odaiba. LAUNCH!!! Narrator: And so the Children made their way safely to Odaiba. However....

PicoDevimon: I've found you. I must inform Vamdemon-sama right away! (flies off) Narrator: Where could the Eighth Chosen Child be? Vamdemon's night draws closer.

Yeah, those skies are looking pretty sunset-y. We close on the ominous reminder that Vamdemon will be loosed upon Tokyo soon.

In the dub:

Matt: Well, so much for keeping a low profile. Tai: At least we got away from Lame Duane and we're all in one piece! Joe: Nice work, Ikkakumon. You NAAAAAAILED him! Ikkakumon: RAAARHAHAAAA!!! Tai: Anyway, wouldn't you rather travel in the fresh air than under the ground in that subway? Sora: Oh, yeah! This is great! Tai: And best of all, it's free!

Since Tai and Sora are filling space where the Narrator should be talking, they have to play a really noticeable game of "Only speak when the camera isn't on you". The camera is on Sora and Mimi for Tai's subway line. Then Sora speaks when it shifts to Tai, Matt, and T.K. And then Tai starts talking again as soon as it moves to Izzy.

DemiDevimon: Here's good news! Now that they've shown themselves, we can finally take care of them! (flies off) Tai: Next stop: HOME!!! Kids: YEAH!! WOOHOO!! WE'RE GOING HOME!!! Mimi: Does anybody have something to eat? Tai: Ugh, Mimi, not that again! Mimi: I was just asking!

The episode closes on one last Mimi gag for good measure.

Assessment: The hitchhiking portion of this episode made me feel my age. Watching these children get sexually harassed by people old enough to drive is deeply uncomfortable. But creeps like the ones these kids ran into are a genuine peril of attempting this.

The dub censored that sequence heavily because, I guess, they don't want kids to try doing what the Chosen Children were doing. But the original sequence goes to great lengths to examine the perils of what the Chosen Children were doing. Yeah, we don't want children hitchhiking, here's why.

In fact, points from me for pointing out that boys can be victimized by predatory adults too. It's not just something that happens to girls. Both Yamato and Sora/Mimi get preyed on by exactly the kind of people who would eagerly pick up isolated 11/10-year-olds off the side of the road, though Yamato gets it much more directly.

This was a terrible idea that Taichi had.

The dub, meanwhile, was very polarized. This episode's dub has high highs and low lows. Some fantastic dubbing and even a scene that's improved on the original one minute, and then total dipshittery the next.

This is the meanest episode to Joe and Mimi that the show's been yet. Mimi got it in quantity but Joe got the fucking "Ditch Joe and go eat" bit. A bit which wound up becoming a plot hole later on when Tentomon clearly mentions Izzy eating.

...wait a second, why can Dub Gomamon evolve? Shouldn't he also be starv-- Holy shit, did they feed Gomamon too? Joe did drop him in the diner before storming out. It really was just Joe that they screwed?

[reliablejoukido]

my feelings on The Beginning. I welcome discourse and dissenting opinions, but I do NOT welcome hate. Also I'm going to bed literally right after publishing this, so I will talk to y'all tomorrow.

I loved Fullmetal Alchemist: Digimon The Beginning a lot. Seeing the English dub was a wonderful experience and it brought me back to the reason why 02 was my favorite season in the first place. I also appreciated seeing the subbed version tonight, as it helped solidify the plot in my head.

I adored Daisuke especially. I loved Daisuke's emotions and his dialogue and his ability to strike friendship into the heart of anyone. I loved his adorable interactions with Ken, his chaotic interactions with Miyako, and his extremely ship-worthy interactions with Lui. And that scene where Ken pointed out how calm he was? Extremely powerful. Also Daisuke's queer energy was off the charts in this film, just saying. That alone means so much to me.

Also Takeru was SO in character when he was like "I know there is the possibility of Digimon partner-induced nuclear war, but hello??? Patamon might die????" I realize that's an oversimplification of his point, but it felt so right for him.

So like... I don't want to get into arguments about this, because I always feel like I'm wrong about lore and people yell at me just for thinking things they think are "wrong". So these are just my personal opinions which are obviously in no way accurate.

But in my opinion, Lui wasn't the first person to partner with a Digimon. I felt that Ukkomon was unreliable and untrustworthy and unstable, so I don't trust anything he claimed was true. I don't trust Ukkomon's concept of being the reason for Digimon and human partnerships to be accurate. I mean, I could bring Hiroki Hida and Oikawa into the mix. Or Maki and Daigo (if you try to tell me tri isn't canon just because of some interview, I'm going to block you just fyi).

I also don't entirely buy Ukkomon to be the reason the Chosen Children were even Chosen. Wouldn't Lui have been part of their adventure if that was the case? There are so many reasons the Digital World needed the Chosen Children that had absolutely nothing to do with Lui and Ukkomon. The whole Digital World's existence wasn't even mentioned regarding Ukkomon.

I really just don't trust anything Ukkomon did or said. He litterally brainwashed, manipulated, and eventually killed Lui's parents, so forgive me if I find what he says hard to believe. But I seriously loved that Ukkomon was chaotic and untrustworthy. It made for a fascinating "villain". I loved that we were lead to believe some new lore that may or may not be true, depending on how much you believe Ukkomon and Lui.

I also want to believe that now that the digivices are gone (which already happened to Sora, Taichi, Yamato, and implied Mimi, Jou, and Koushiro), that they will receive Digi-eggs soon, perhaps after they go through more important situations in their adult lives. If you know me, then you know I'm not the biggest fan of the ending of Kizuna, because I felt like it was a personal attack on my adulthood. I want more than anything for there to be a reason for Taichi and the others to see their Digimon again. I believe the ending of The Beginning gave us hope that Taichi's bond with Agumon transcends his own broken digivice.

So that's it, mostly. You can all stay tuned for when the movie is available on streaming/blu-ray, because you KNOW I'll be photoshopping ponytails onto Ken again. Also I'm planning a Daisuke/Lui fic at some point.

[izzyizumi]

Digimon Adventure tri. ~ "Kokuhaku" ["Confession"]; tri. Movie #3 featuring Characters: Koushiro[u] Izumi + (Friendship) with Tentomon / Tentomon acting as Support + Adventure!Digimon (watching over) ~ Koushiro Breaking Down / Having a Meltdown

"Is it wrong to WANT TO KNOW Everything?" - Adventure!Koushiro;

Images all by @izzyizumi​ / @koushirouizumi​ {Do Not re-post} {Please Ask To Use} {Do Not remove caption}

Transcript + Image usage rules under the 'read more'!

"Is it wrong to WANT TO {KNOW} Everything?" - Adventure!Koushiro; Child of {KNOWLEDGE} Episode 24 (J.P.N Version), asking directly to Vademon (who's manipulating Koushiro) in genuine Confusion;

"IT'S NO GOOD... I DON'T {K N O W}" - Tri!Koushiro; "Kokuhaku" (J.P.N Version)

"...What's wrong, Koushiro?" - Agumon, Confused tone

"{Koushiro}'s a BIT scary. ..." - Palmon, Worried tone

"Koushiro-han HASN'T BEEN SLEEPING." - Tentomon, (hushed) Informing tone

"And it seems the news [this morning] {before scene} strained his nerves even MORE." - Tentomon, Adding

{usage of gifs may be allowed if permission is asked / or if credit is given. However, read my about & FAQ pages first. Please do NOT use / ask if you match anything in my “Do Not Interact” sections.}

{Additional note: this post is mainly intended SPECIFIC CHARACTERs/POSITIVITY FOCUSED. please remember + RESPECT this when interacting} {Failure to acknowledge interacting rules WILL result in a block}

[dutchforstrangers]

Taishiro x Stars

For @taikouvember 2023 - Day 3: Habits & Change + Day 5: Visible & Invisible Signs of Affection

A/N: I had a really hard time with the prompts, and I think I put all four of them in there in one way or another. How you interpretate it is up to you. Dedicated to my Taishiro-president @seventeenlovesthree, exactly two months after your big double three; happy very belated birthday! Cheers to us and our first and forever conversations about everything stars, dynamics, Astrology and interpretations ;) Hope you like it! (Their Star signs are based on these personal headcanons [1] [2]) Excerpt: He admired that in Koushiro, the focus, but also how the redhead wasn’t easily convinced of things until thoroughly researched by himself. It was Taichi’s personal mission to convince Koushiro of something he wasn’t actually convinced of yet.

Taishiro one-shot | Genre: Blooming romance through Astrology? | Characters: Taichi Yagami (POV) x Koushiro Izumi, Yamato Ishida | Wordcount: 1.320

Written in the stars

“I’m going to get something to eat. You two want any?” Yamato asked. The two other boys shook their heads no before watching Yamato disappear into the cabin.

It had been a draining day, keeping watch over the younger ones over there in the Digital World. Taichi rolled his shoulders then tilted his head to both sides to crack his neck. He sighed followed by a deep breath in making him relax right away. It was at least nice they were outside, the city miles away and between the trees underneath a starry sky.

Taichi turned his gaze upward. With his eyes he scanned the sky for everything and nothing at the same time.

“You think there will be life there as well? Like we found in the Digital World?” Taichi asked to no one in particular, but fully aware of there being only one person who could hear and answer him.

“There are possibilities and although there is proof, I’m not convinced. Except for the Digital World, I like my information profound and scientifically proven.” Koushiro answered, eyes fixated on the laptop screen placed on the picnic table.

He admired that in Koushiro, the focus, but also how the redhead wasn’t easily convinced of things until thoroughly researched by himself. It was Taichi’s personal mission to convince Koushiro of something he wasn’t actually convinced of yet.

He looked up to the sky once more.

“How about the stars?”

“Stars in itself is a science.”

“Okay,” Taichi muffled a tad annoyed, not satisfied with that answer and its shortness. Sure, Koushiro was busy with things, but he liked him better rambling. “Then what about… star alignment?”

Koushiro looked up, his curiosity sparked, one eyebrow raised. “Star alignment? Perhaps you mean Astrology?”

“Isn’t that a form of science too?”

“Assumably,” Koushiro started off carefully, a form of hesitation seeping through in his soft voice, “in certain cases, maybe. However, it is not what I define as science. I acknowledge it intrigues a lot of people, it can truly be fascinating, but I’d interpret it more like a vague concept using difficult words and sentences in a fairly superficial, sometimes even sketchy way to manipulate people in believing they possess certain personality traits or to describe compatibility between themselves and others that is only based on either personal or shared sentiment.”

Taichi shook his head rapidly, perplexed by the amount of words Koushiro was using in one sentence. It actually didn’t surprise him anymore, still, it was a passion on an for his friend odd topic he hadn’t witnessed in a long time. He watched Koushiro turning back to his task on his laptop.

“I think it’s kinda… romantic.”

He waited for a response, but nothing came.

“I mean, doesn’t it seem pretty common to use horoscopes to describe, you know, attraction between people? I can see the romance in that.”

Koushiro’s eyes travelled away from his screen, his head still lowered. He mumbled. “Romance huh?”

“Yeah.” Taichi internally smirked, thinking he was close to a breakthrough, but acting innocent. “Something about how your Star sign tells you something about yourself and how you might be attracted to others with a compatible Star sign. I know that’s not your kind of soup and yes, it’s rather shady at times, but I don’t know… To me it seems romantic.”

The fingers that had been glued to his laptop’s keyboard left the keys, any form of tapping sound disappearing. Koushiro placed his right hand in front of his mouth, his right elbow resting on his left arm he held in front of his chest. His eyebrows furrowed, showing Taichi his thinking face.

“So I’m not that much into Astrology, but isn’t it more than just your Star sign? Actually, the proper way to put it is Sun sign. Most people only know about that sign the sun was in during the time they were born, but there are more placements to look at to figure out what the stars actually tell you about yourself. You see, everyone is born on a specific time and in a specific place. Depending on that time and place, everyone’s born underneath a slightly different sky exactly above you. And as days, hours and sometimes even minutes or seconds pass, the planets travel through the twelve known Star signs. This means you should not only look into your Sun sign, that’s said to only explain things about your identity and ego, but also your Moon sign, that interprets your emotional state and how you make decisions in times of stress. And then there’s your Rising sign that’s often said to tell you more about yourself than your actual Sun sign. The Rising sign is the sign on the most East of the horizon during your birth. It covers how you prefer to act and how others perceive you, which can differ a lot from your Sun sign. Hence why lots of people don’t see resemblance when reading horoscopes only looking at their Sun sign, because it’s not the way the prefer to act or are perceived by others and often even themselves. Aside from that, there are also the other planets that could explain parts of your personality or life, but I haven’t really read into that yet. You can find a lot on the internet regarding birth charts, if you’re interested, I can see what I can find for you.”

Taichi’s mouth was wide open -if not fully dropped to the ground- in absolute awe of his friend and the knowledge he was spilling like rain pouring down in the depths of Autumn. He blinked his eyes a few times, trying to digest the fast stream of information.

“Wow.”

“What?” Koushiro said, finally relaxing his arms and looking up after deeply thinking with his eyes stuck into an unseeable distance during his rambles. His usually pitch black orbs showed signs of twinkling stars while his cheeks slowly painted themselves with a soft pinkish blush. “Did I say something wrong?”

“I have no clue, really,” Taichi shrugged his shoulders and laughed, taking a seat beside Koushiro. He gently placed one hand on his shoulder, earning him a brighter blush from the readhead. “But for someone who says to not be into Astrology, you know an awful lot about it.”

Taichi was well aware of the softness in his voice, knowing that was what Koushiro could do to him. And he absolutely loved all of that about Koushiro, surprising him with his use of words and how they affected him in the most soft ways.

A blush mirroring Koushiro’s warmed Taichi’s face. A small smile appearing on the corner of his lips.

“Maybe more of the ‘romantic’ type you think you are. Heh, I think that’s rather cute.”

At that, they smiled together through the silence, the only sound visible for Taichi to feel his own heart beating in his chest. He looked up to the sky for one last time, smiling brighter before closing his eyes to take in the fresh air underneath the stars.

“According to your birthday, you’re a Libra, am I right?”

Taichi opened his eyes and looked at Koushiro. “Yes…?”

“No wonder you talk so much about romance,” Koushiro replied with a nod while breaking the newly found eye contact.

A sharp inhale escaped Taichi as he felt the sudden urge to show his affection towards Koushiro in a more physical way. But before he could act, Yamato had returned to the table with some snacks. And so, instead, he cleared his throat.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.” Was Koushiro’s response, a soft and knowing smile only he could give shaping itself for only Taichi to understand. “We should get back to our work.”

“Right.”

“Christ, Taichi,” came Yamato’s whispering voice next to him. The blonde rolled his eyes. “If you’re not taking that step yourself soon, I’ll be doing it for you.”

[detectiveichijouji]

02 Group’s profiles!!

Ken: A sophomore student from a High School in Tamachi, 16-17yo. He used to be the tyrant Digimon Kaiser, but thanks to Daisuke and the others he had been reformed and recovered his old, kind and true self. Lately he’s working with his friends as an “unofficial special unit” solving digimon cases and mysteries around Tokyo. Seems like he’s enjoying the role as the detective already!?

Miyako: A senior student from Hikarigamori High School, 17-18yo. She’s still helping everyone as she can, and still doing her best. She still has no idea what he wants to do when she graduates, but she likes to assist Koushiro on maintaining the Chosen Children Network. Currently working with her friends solving digi-cases around Tokyo.

Iori: A 3rd grade student from Odaiba Junior High School (Middle School), 14-15yo. One with excellent grades and who becomes a role model for younger children. He still practices Kendo, and works as the 02 group’s voice of reason. You could think he would turn Daisuke down on the idea of starting a “club to solve mysteries” but he found that an interesting way to spend time with them all.

Daisuke: A sophomore student from Amanogawa High School, 16-17yo. While he seems to struggle at a few curricular subjects, he’s still good at soccer and English. After watching a ton of detective movies and TV series to entertain himself after school activities, he decided to convince the group to form a “special detective club-or-unit” and go solving digimon cases around.

Hikari: A sophomore student from the same school Daisuke attends, 16-17yo. She’s still good at manipulating Daisuke, but never for selfish purposes (if anything, she enables his best and boosts his courage in order to make him accomplish missions), and she joins the school’s journal staff, in order to have a new experience and expand her horizons, as their photographer. Her role at the school’s journal staff becomes handy when the group decides to investigate digimon phenomenon around Tokyo.

Takeru: A sophomore student from the same school Daisuke and Hikari attend, 16-17yo. Takeru has been closer to Daisuke now and they tend to spend their school time together, alongside Hikari. He likes to write short stories in his notebook, about his daily life as a student and as Chosen Child. He was the first to jump into the wagon for Daisuke’s idea of forming a detective club. May-may-not be the group’s enabler.

[earlgreymon]

digidestined inception au taichi as the extractor ∙ yamato as the point man ∙ koushiro as the architect ∙ takeru as the forger ∙ jyou as the chemist ∙ mimi as the tourist ∙ sora as the mark ∙ hikari as the shade

along with his comrade yamato ishida, taichi yagami was an extractor, who had the ability to steal someone else’s secret through a shared dream world. mimi tachikawa, a successful businesswoman, wanted taichi and yamato to do a job that seemed impossible: to implant an idea in the subconscious of her rival, sora takenouchi, so that sora would dissolve her mother’s company that had been a long competitor of the tachikawa industry.

to perform this job, taichi and yamato assembled a team. koushiro, a genius technician with the ability to build a dream’s labyrinth. takeru, yamato’s manipulative estranged brother with the ability to forge identity. jyou, a medical expert who was also the creator of the infamous dream sedative.

however, the obstacle came in the form of taichi’s subconscious: hikari, his little sister who had died believing she was still dreaming after taichi took him to the dream world. would the team be able to finish the mission?

[shihalyfie]

Shihanne’s Kizuna meta -- Part 1: The meaning behind Kizuna, and the actual cause of partnership dissolution

Kizuna is a very easy movie to misunderstand, and it’s not helped by the fact that the official translation kind of sucks. (Seriously, I highly recommend you check out the translation of one of the novels -- the Dash X or the Shueisha Mirai version -- because of how badly the official one sucks.) On top of that, a lot of its information is packed in the subtleties of a lot of its lines, which means that, without paying very close attention, you can walk off with a completely misleading interpretation of what the movie is trying to say. A lot of times I see people talking about how the movie’s message is about adulthood sucking, or partnership dissolution being an inevitable thing...when the movie actually makes multiple indications that this is not the case.

(The rest of the post contains major spoilers for the movie, so be warned.)

Do note that the below is only my personal interpretation, and because there is a lot to unpack with this movie, please feel free to disagree with or disregard any of my interpretations here.

Kizuna has a lot of things to say about adulthood, but the most obvious theme is, of course, “don’t be too trapped in nostalgia” -- represented by Menoa’s desire to trap everyone in Neverland so they can never move forward, and, on a meta level, the ridiculous amount of Adventure imagery associated with people who can’t move on (yeah, they weren’t really subtle about that part...). But as a result, the idea behind the movie is often taken the wrong way -- does this mean that they’re trashing on the very series they’re meant to honor? Is the movie about people having to swallow adulthood being painful? After all, the movie says that partners disappear when you become an adult! Isn’t the movie saying we all have to accept that (even though the sheer existence of the 02 epilogue should imply otherwise)?

Nope! The movie actually does have another inner layer about what it means to become an adult, and how to develop a healthy relationship with your adulthood that isn’t just violently cutting everything away -- in fact, it considers that to be another unhealthy extreme that it warns against. It’s just that this theme is a little more latently hidden, and you have to connect the dots a little to figure that out.

I think a lot of the reason so many people miss this is predicated on the fact that you are not supposed to take Menoa’s statement at face value. It’s her statement as presented in the official trailers and a lot of the advertising material, so it’s easy to think that she’s supposed to be the deliverer of the movie’s message, but that is very much not the case! Understanding this is key to understanding the core theme of the movie, and what it’s trying to say in terms of a lead-up to the 02 epilogue.

Menoa’s statement on adulthood, which is what the concept of partnership dissolution is supposedly predicated on, is the following (quoted from onkeikun’s translation of the Dash X Bunko novel, which uses the movie script):

Do all of you know why it’s children who are chosen to be partners with Digimon?... It’s because children are full of possibilities... The future is rife with limitless choices. You grow as a person by making those choices. “Growth” and “possibilities” together produce vast energy. As I’m sure you guys are already aware, the evolutions of your Digimon partners are triggered by your growth... When that power is gone… Your partnership with your Digimon ends.

Keep in mind that Menoa has built this “theory” based on her own experience. She’s convinced that her “choice” to become an adult was what took Morphomon from her. She’s convinced that Adulthood is Bad, and that Choices are Bad. Menoa is very much biased from her own experience, and her theory is not reliable. Seriously, do you think someone who eventually decides that forcing everyone into an eternal loop of their childhood is an excellent idea is a reliable source for these kinds of things?

Not only that, she’s also claiming that this is supposed to apply to all adults just because this happened to her. Although she claims that this is part of her research, there clearly have not been enough cases of partnership dissolution for this to be a well-known issue. Given that she lost Morphomon at a young age, and she’s one of the oldest Chosen Children, it’s natural that she might think that this might be a universal phenomenon and that it might not have “kicked in” for everyone else, but nevertheless, she’s committing a major no-no in scientific research -- extrapolating based on a painfully small sample size, and letting her own biased perception of events manipulate what she sees as the result.

When Gennai supposedly “confirms” the partnership dissolution phenomenon, note that he does not actually confirm Menoa’s theory.

Unfortunately, you are experiencing the case where your partnership is dissolving... But if you guys still have infinite possibility…Then it’s possible…

The fact that Gennai refers to it as a “case” is very important (it’s very clear in the Japanese line too, jirei). This is a thing that may happen. It is not a thing that is guaranteed to happen, and it’s not necessarily a thing that comes with adulthood like Menoa thinks. What’s more, he even acknowledges that “having infinite possibility” is still possible for adults -- something that doesn’t fit with Menoa’s theory on Adulthood Being Bad and how it diminishes possibility.

As the movie eventually goes into Menoa’s plan for “saving” Chosen Children, she justifies her motive by saying that losing partners is “fate” (shukumei). She thinks that losing partners is an inevitability. She thinks that this is just something that comes with adulthood, and that unless she forces everyone to stay in their childhood, their only recourse will be to suck it up and to be miserable.

This is why the climax is dedicated to Taichi and Yamato proving her wrong.

“What you’ve chosen wasn’t a mistake!” “But no matter what waits for us after making that choice…!” “We have to live with the decisions that we make!”... “We might not be able to change our fate. But!” “We can change our destiny!”

In essence, Taichi and Yamato are disproving both parts of Menoa’s theory on Adulthood Being Bad. It’s not that choices are inherently bad, it’s just that sometimes there are consequences of said choices...but it’s not like said consequences lead to dead ends. Taichi and Yamato, in contrast to Menoa’s belief in “fate”, believe in “destiny” (unmei) -- the difference being that they believe in being able to change that predetermined fate by their own efforts.

The concept had come up earlier in To Sora, too --

Hey, Sora-san. I think it was destiny that we became Chosen Children. But I don’t think it was fate.

It’s a completely different conversation, but Mimi is basically talking about the philosophy that pushes the Chosen Children forward -- that sure, some things seem to be predestined and beyond simple luck, but also that they’ve had choice in manipulating the events and changing what seems normally inevitable.

So if Menoa’s theory about partnerships dissolving in adulthood is questionable to begin with, then what does cause partnership dissolution? Again, it’s not actually established that this is something that happens to everyone. We only have four confirmed cases within the scope of the movie: Menoa herself, Taichi, Yamato, and Sora. So what do they have in common?

Well, the night before the ring appeared on Taichi and Yamato’s Digivices, they had this conversation:

“You should take Gabumon with you to your classes,” Taichi said jokingly. Yamato smiled wryly. “Don’t be stupid. Why don’t you take Agumon to your classes?” “It’s not that simple. I have my own life to live.”

And during the events of To Sora -- which presumably happened right before the ring appeared for Sora -- this happened:

When Piyomon had come to inform her that Koushiro had sent a message, Sora had said to her angrily, “Don’t bother me!” The distress and irritation of her practice not going well had caused Sora to take it out on her. But even when lashed out by that irrational anger, Piyomon had been the one who apologized. When she saw Piyomon hanging her head apologetically, Sora had felt a surge of regret but no room in her heart to apologize as well. “I need to focus on this right now…” She had said as her excuse, and looked away.

And in Menoa’s case, a certain something shows up in the Shueisha Mirai Bunko version of the novel -- it’s implied in the movie itself, but the novel itself says it pretty explicitly:

Waiting in front of the swing at her family’s home, where they’d always played together when Menoa was a child, was her beloved friend. Lately, she’d been studying so much that they hadn’t been talking to each other at all, so she wanted Morphomon to lavish her with praise. She wanted her to say, “Menoa, you’re amazing!”

See a pattern? All of the known cases of partnership dissolution involved neglect of their Digimon partners in pursuit of “adulthood”.

Taichi and Yamato ditched Agumon and Gabumon at the start of the movie and left them with their siblings. Agumon hadn’t even been to Taichi’s room before, even though Taichi lives by himself and is clearly lonely -- his reaction when Agumon finds his AVs, “you have to be an adult -- “ tells all, because he clearly thinks of Agumon as “a child” who shouldn’t be near his New Adult Life. Sora may have apologized later, but it sounds like there’s been a constant pattern of her starting to focus so much on her studies that she’s emotionally neglected Piyomon. And, of course, Menoa herself rushed so much to become “an adult” that she neglected her beloved partner in the process -- they weren’t even talking anymore! And the fact that the swing is discussed in past tense, when Menoa was a child, indicates that Morphomon may not be the only thing Menoa had tossed away in pursuit of “becoming an adult”.

(Note how Menoa constantly talked through the movie about the fact she and Morphomon had “always been together”, as if Morphomon had been ripped unfairly from her suddenly and for no reason...only for the revelation that Menoa was guilty of neglect to drop at the end. I repeat: Menoa is not a reliable person to be taking words at face value from.)

It really, really doesn’t seem like coincidence that Taichi and Yamato’s Digivice rings appeared the day after they flippantly laughed at the idea of taking Agumon and Gabumon to school because it would get in the way of “having their own lives to live”. Recall that Digimon in the Adventure universe have always generally been taken to represent an alter ego, or a part of oneself. (They were literally developed to represent part of the human soul in physical form.) On a symbolic level, your partner disappearing is representative of you losing touch with yourself -- and your own childhood innocence -- because of some arbitrary, societally-enforced standard of “becoming an adult”.

Fun side note? As mentioned in the movie, Eosmon is named after the Greek goddess of the dawn, who also has another interesting story about her: she fell in love with a mortal man and, not wanting him to die before her, requested that he be given eternal life, but neglected to ask that he be given eternal youth, and was forced to watch as her lover kept living on and on and withered further and further with age. Neglected the concept of youth, huh.

That’s why partnerships seem to dissolve with adulthood, but it’s not from the simple act of becoming an adult -- it happens when you take that adulthood and decide that you’re going to reject all of those “childish” things about yourself in pursuit of that goal, and lose yourself in the process. And sure, they may have tried to fix it right away, but these things aren’t just momentary moments of weakness; they build, and build, and build, and build, until you’re at the point of no return and need to take drastic measures to get it back.

And in fact, if you inspect the staff interviews (which have been, presumably, deliberately vague about this in the hopes of having the audience figure it out), they hint at it, too:

For this movie, we had the concept of "separation from their Digimon", which means being able to completely separate yourself from your past self, or rather, wondering if it might be better to cut yourself entirely from your past adventures in becoming more like an adult.

Not only that, but this explanation tracks much better than what Menoa claims is the case. Under Menoa’s explanation of choices diminishing possibilities, characters like Daisuke and Jou who had their paths already determined from an early age should have lost their partners a long time ago, and conversely, Taichi and Yamato, who weren’t sure on what to do with their lives at the beginning of the movie, should not have lost their partners. But “emotional neglect from the obsession with growing up” tracks even with our “outlier” cases -- Menoa “forced” herself to become an adult at the very-not-adult age of 14 and lost her partner, while Oikawa also didn’t actually get to “meet” Pipimon until he accepted that exact same thing -- that he needed to embrace the “power to dream” instead of considering himself a “tainted adult”.

(Ichijouji Ken, who could be argued to be guilty of emotional neglect of Wormmon in some sense, initially seems like a violation of this principle, but closely observing the Kaiser’s behavior during 02 indicates an often paradoxical thread of behavior implying that he seemed to have been rejecting and yet wanting him nearby at the same time, which is part of the reason Wormmon’s death breaks him so badly. In fact, it often feels like he goes out of his way to acknowledge Wormmon for the specific purpose of rejecting him. In a metaphorical sense, knowing that Wormmon is representative of Ken’s own inner self, the metaphor of Ken being in perpetual internal conflict of constantly trying to outwardly reject his own heart for being “weak” yet never truly being able to escape it until he’s finally forced to accept it for good is not lost. It was not a positive relationship with Wormmon by any means, but it was, nevertheless, a conscious and active relationship, for which “neglect” does not feel like an appropriate word.)

When you look back at Menoa’s life and backstory, it then becomes clear how she made her mistake in her theory. Menoa basically threw away her childhood in order to become an adult, and she never learned to embrace the happy medium between having an unhealthy attachment to the past and violently cutting it off. Late in the movie, she claims that there’s nobody else who understands how she feels, and we also learn in her flashback that she had an obsession with doing things “on her own”, or in other words, she cut off any potential friends or people who could help her (Morphomon seems to have legitimately been her only friend and confidant). So in her mind, “losing touch with your inner self and having no connection to the happiness of your childhood” is fundamentally synonymous with becoming an adult. That’s how she develops her mentality of “adulthood is drudgery and has no value, and we’d be better off never getting there” -- and that adulthood strips people of possibilities and therefore provides no recourse from losing your Digimon partner, and that the only way to reclaim anything from your childhood is to just shove yourself back into its box. Her own life had no such hope in it, so she projects that lack of hope onto everyone else.

With that in mind, the two major questions that come from this:

Will this happen to everyone? Hard to say, but I don’t think it would necessarily. Remember, even though Menoa is one of the oldest Chosen Children and had this happen to her at an abnormally early age, not everyone has such an unhealthy relationship with adulthood, nor is as likely to neglect their partners nearly as much in the process of figuring out what adulthood means to them. That doesn’t mean that those it does happen to made some “mistake” or “messed up”, though -- press materials and the BD commentary made it clear that this was not a movie intended to endorse “one way to live”, and sometimes the degree of introspection and experimentation with what adulthood means to you does result in momentarily trying to cut things away until you figure your life balance out, especially if you want to take on a challenge with as high of a hurdle as Taichi’s road to becoming a diplomat.

So what’s the solution? Although it’s still left to everyone’s imagination to figure out the details, at the very least, figuring out yourself and snapping yourself out of this very unhealthy relationship with “growing up” and holding yourself to arbitrary, false standards is probably a great start! Menoa had her “vision” of Morphomon the moment Taichi and Yamato’s words reached her within Eosmon. Gennai specifically says that partnership dissolution will cause the Digimon to disappear in terms of losing their “form” (sugata), but given that Digimon in the Adventure universe are supposed to represent a part of yourself, they’re probably still there (just not there)! In that light, getting them back...is probably not actually all that hard, if they can sit down and take some time to figure themselves out. That’s why Menoa never figured it out this whole time in the last eight years; she was so busy focusing on “scientific” ways to get Morphomon back, and staying perpetually stuck in a twisted nostalgic version of her past, that she never actually sat down to think about herself and what she was doing. And that’s why the movie’s climax is about Taichi blowing the whistle to wake everyone up -- it’s still about moving forward, but it’s about using your past to move forward, instead of gravitating to the extremes of either latching onto it eternally or attempting to abandon it outright.

So really, the solution is for everyone to get some damn therapy.

Given that, the path to the 02 epilogue doesn’t actually seem that particularly difficult compared to how Menoa made the problem initially sound like. It’s not like every adult is going to inevitably have this happen as a process, and thus it’s not like everyone has to find some magical technical solution that’ll rectify one of the laws of the universe. The solution is really more somewhere between the unhealthy extremes presented in the movie -- Menoa’s fixation on nostalgia and the past being the only good thing in her life, and Taichi and Yamato (initially) rejecting said childhoods in favor of “adulthood” -- and figuring out how to use and cherish your childhood, past experiences, and inner self to move forward.

And given Sora’s revelation in To Sora about taking care of herself more, and Taichi and Yamato starting to settle on their career decisions for real by the end of Kizuna, they’re already on their way to figuring things out. Or, in other words, it’s likely that they’ll get their partners back simply through the natural course of making their way to the epilogue. Taichi’s starting to value his childhood experiences as important in his future work in diplomacy. Yamato, according to the Shueisha Mirai version of the novel, is becoming an astronaut to entertain the “romantic” dream of going to space with Gabumon. Sora, as per the 02 epilogue, will end up known not for being an iemoto heir but a kimono designer -- a skill that she’s presumably going to be discovering on her own, and not under obligations to others. Gennai himself said that there was hope as long as they still had “infinite possibility” -- something that Taichi, Yamato, and Sora were closing up on themselves at the beginning of this movie, but were starting to re-open the door to again once they started reconnecting with themselves and embarking on some proper paths by the end of it.

“We’ll definitely come to see you” -- indeed, they will.

(Next is the sequel to this meta, where I discuss Kizuna’s relationship with not only 02′s epilogue but also 02 itself as a whole, and the reason the 02 group has such an unusual position in this movie.)

[koushirouizumi]

That’s why it {everything that happened} was all the more painful. {Tentomon} felt as if Koushiro wasn’t Koushiro anymore.

Digimon Adventure Novel; “The Inquisitive Heart” Translation from Digital Scratch (Link in the comments)

[grimcatician]

Wip for an old ish avatar au that i spent waaay too much time thinking about lol

Taichi: fire bender —sun warrior ancestry! Travels around a lot in order to help Hikari learn all the different bending practices (surprise shes the avatar) His friend from the water tribe gave him the tunic/vest! Powerful but lacks finesse/discipline. Sora berates him for having his fire bending rely solely on his emotions. Is more wary of certain moves ever since The Incident w Hikari :(

Sora: also a fire bender and Taichi’s childhood friend! She an extremely talented fire bender and likes to spar with Taichi, whom she regularly beats! Hikari’s fire bending teacher bc of reasonsssss. Really likes fire-bending matches/spars!

Koushiro: From the Earth Kingdom, as a child he thought he was a non-bender but quickly realized, no, he just wasn’t a bender like his parents. Dislikes using his fire bending bc 1) late bloomer and thus has little control, 2) makes him feel even MORE distant from his parents (who dont know his bending has come in)

Mimi: torn between non bender and Water bender, but shes from the earth kingdom! Her town is in the lush mountains surrounding the capital, and theyre quite skilled at plant manipulation via water bending. Loves traveling and wants to see the world!! She is an amazing gymnast!

Yamato: Water bender—has a difficult time with it because of his personality (traumaaaa). Like Taichi, he is powerful but has trouble controlling it at will.

TK: Non-bender. Bc of this Yamato worries but hes been learning martial arts via bending styles—particularly air bending—from a ‘friend’ (he later awakens air bending powers similar to what happens in LOK except we dont fuck up the avatar cycle)

Hikari: the avatar!! No one knew until she turned 8! She grew up as a fire bender and has always loved nature and been fascinated by history and folklore!

Jyou: a non bender. Hes a healer from the water tribe. Feels bad for not being able to continue with the water healing practices his family has passed down. He is determined to find new and different ways of healing and wants to travel the world to find what he as a non bender can do—he works super hard and gets along well with Kou!

[higuchimon]

what do you want to see?

GX Month is almost over and I'm having a lot of fun with it. But it did push back finishing my WIPs a lot, and it added a few to the list despite my best efforts. So, my next goal after this is to finish those WIPs. That's not what I'm asking. This is: I have a lot of series and worlds. Which do you, the readers I share what I write with, wants to see the most? Here are your options:

Digimon Adventure 02

Division of Destiny: The world of Reign of the Undead King, taking place afterward. The living Chosen adjust to a world of blue skies and green grass and Digimon who aren't trying to kill them. But Piemon and Vamdemon are still out there, and Vamdemon has Daisuke.

Take To The Skies: Daisuke falls more and more under the Kaiser's control and he really doesn't want to. But even his stubbornness can only hold out so long. [unknown type of ending]

Fragmented Memory: Kaiser keeps a firm hold over Daisuke by manipulating his memory. But even he can't succeed forever, right? Only time will tell - and maybe not this story. [unknown type of ending]

Broken Bonds: Takeru must still deal with his soulmate Piemon and the fact that Patamon won't hatch out of his egg. [unknown type of ending]

Fight To Remember: Ken and Daisuke have both lost their memories. Getting them back will involve remembering that they're enemies - unless something happens before that. Something like becoming friends.

Services Rendered: So, to pay the Kaiser back for saving his life, Daisuke has to do what the Kaiser wants. What does the Kaiser want? [probably open-ended]

Scars of Victory: The elder Chosen have returned to the Digital World. After 7 years they've missed out on a lot and need to get caught up. But will the Kaiser give them the time? [probably open-ended]

Course of Events: Daisuke grows up with Piemon and LadyDevimon, learning what it is to be their son, their servant, and their warrior. And then the Chosen arrive - along with the sister he barely remembers.

Walking The Edge: The Kaiser has what he wants. Daisuke finally knows who he is and is going to help him - whether Daisuke likes it or not. If the Chosen haven't stopped him in all these years, how can they now when they're down one? [undecided ending]

Dark Brotherhood: Now that the Kaiser has his half-brother Anbumon with him, they're going to take down the Chosen. If only it were that easy.

Danger Zone: Kaiser is very annoyed that Hikari prevented him from taking Daisuke. So he's going to make sure that she delivers his prey right to him. [not a happy ending]

Melody of the Heart: They need to find Jou and Koushiro to help Taichi be immune to Yamato's enchanting voice. It's a long journey and an amazing adventure.

Heart of Demon, Soul of Angel: How exactly did Yamato distract Taichi? Well, Ken had to get Daisuke on a date. So how did Yamato manage that? He's a demon. He did it with lust. [not entirely happy ending]

Game of Life: Now that the Kaiser knows about the breed, what is he going to do next?

Bitter Bargain: The first night that Daisuke spends in the Kaiser's fortress is much like when the Kaiser spent it at his apartment. [obviously rated M & forced consent]

Sanguine Bindings: How did the Chosen deal with the Kaiser's revelation as a vampire and having taken Daisuke?

Purpose of Existence: Yamato, Koushiro, and the Kaiser go to rescue Daisuke. But who is going to rescue Daisuke from the Kaiser?

No Good Decisions: V-mon's an egg. Daisuke is still sick - and is he getting sicker? But the Kaiser's there to take care of him.

Flaming Ivy: The Kaiser has chosen Daisuke as his Firestarter. Daisuke might not feel the same way - or maybe he does.

Digimon Xros Wars: Young Hunters Leaping Through Time

Hunting The Great Game: A look back into the past - it's really not so easy to break Kiriha free of DarkKnightmon's control.

Yu-Gi-Oh GX

Reversal: the full story of RYou's expereinces as a spy in Haou's forces, ending up with his reveal and the consequences thereof. Not a happy ending.

Reversal: the rebellion finds hope at long last. Or hope finds them, whichever way. Happy ending, or at least a neutral one (depending on how much I want to put in the story).

Reversal: O'Brien is able to track down his deck and duel disk. Reasonaly happy ending.

Hell's Ice: Ryou awakens in Dark World and slowly learns that he has a connection to ice, snow, and cold, and must learn to master his powers under Snoww's instruction, while surviving serving Brron.

Itch To Scratch: Juudai & Yubel take Johan to find out what he really is. Johan is not very happy about what he finds out.

Bridges: A tale of Samejima and Ryou, with Ryou learning how to bind demons and be a duelist of the Cyber-style.

King's Champion: Magician to King: Fujiwara Yuusuke has lost his parents. Honest offers to take him to another world, since he has no family left. That doesn't turn out the way that they both hope.

Shadow Demons: There's someone who wants to destroy demon prince Ryou, shadow mage Yuusuke, guardian angel Honest, and angel of love FUbuki. This is going to be difficult to deal with.

Past and Future: The story of how Juudai went swimming, lost his clothes, fought demons, and flew home naked.

Hole In Your Heart: A retelling of season three, with a more detailed timeframe and an arc of Dark World that's not far too short.

In Darkness We Find Fire: Ryou, Fubuki, and Yuusuke's first year, learning who they are and how to deal with being Healers and Firestarter.

In Darkness We Find Fire: Shou's first year as a duelist and Healer is far more interesting than he expected.

Prisoner of the Black Tower: Why does Haou keep Johan in the tower?

Red Zinnias: So, the Light has been expunged from Saiou. He's free for the first time in a while. So now what happens?

Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal

On Dragon's Wings:

Hating Humanity: Now that Durbe has restored Nasch and Merag's memories, it's time to figure out what to do about the Astral Messenger - who hasn't arrived yet.

Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V

Confusing: Yuuri is getting better at twisting Shun's memories. But that also requires taking him out into the field - where he can encounter those from his past.

Angels, Demons, & Deciding Factors: Yuuri's corruption of Shun continues. [rated M/R, technical non-con in the sense Shun isn't in his right mind and Yuuri is a jerk]

Collars and Keeping: Yuuri inflicts punishment onto Shun for his escape attempt. [rated M/R. see also, Yuuri is a sadistic jerk]

Fae Song: The story of how Rin and Ruri came to serve selena - and what happened to Yuugo.

Strike Hard Strike Fast: Shun has to deal with being captured by vampires. As if one wouldn't be bad enough.

Ashes and Oaths: What happens to Shun now that Yuuri's captured him? Pain. Lots and lots of pain.

Beat of Wings: Yuugo's wings have been bound, like all Flyers of Commons. He can only be released if somoene purchases his services or if he's sold to someone. Roget will try to buy Yuuri off any way he can.

Binan Koukou Chikyuu Boubei Love

Burning Inscription: Kinshiro and Atsushi finally find out the truth of their soulmate marks. Along with the truth of what their battle is really about.

Crossovers

Digimon Adventure 02 & YGO GX: Replacement Vampire: Camula and Vamdemon sent the newly turned RYou to be Camula's replacement in the Seven Stars. So how is that going to work out?

Intrafandom Crossovers

Scorpion Strike: Lesath learns to adjust to the Barian World and his new position as Mizael's assistant. That means dealing with Vector.

Message me, comment, or whatever about which one you'd like to see. This will be reblogged on a regular basis and will continue until I've finished my current WIPs, so probably into 2021.

[xpearlshippingx]

Day 1&2: Daughter / Son

Hello! My original intention was to post some drabbles or Oneshot for Epilogue Celebration but I still have school and exam and can't finish it on time ( Yes it still not canceled despite the numerous cases in my country, stay safe everyone !) so I decided to post some headcanons instead. 

Joe Son: 

-He picks up Gomamon's sense of humor since he was pretty attached to the Seal Digimon much to Joe's dismay. -He the first in the family that does not follow the family tradition of being a doctor from the beginning and Joe fully support his decision -He is similar to Joe, faint at the sight of blood... bad singing ... but one difference is that he doesn't put Salt & Pepper in his egg -He had a strong interest in computers and learn from Koushiro, a fact Koushiro is glad for since his daughter didn't have that much of an interest in technology. -He often the target of Takeru Son prank. It escalated into a prank war when he retaliated

Sora and Yamato Son:

-He good friend with Taichi son but like Yamato and Taichi, they argue often and Sora can’t believe that she had another pair of boys to handle. One is more than enough -Yamato often dresses him up in wolves design clothing when he was young and he likes to pretend to be Gabumon. Gabumon Costume for Halloween is a must too -He likes to cloud watch with Piyomon -He good at drawing and often doodle with Sora when she designing -He gets flustered by girl easily but is still pretty much surrounded by them, Yamato insist is cause he inherited his dad good look 

Daughter:

-Her first word is “Dada”, also happens to be a daddy girl. She knows how to manipulate Yamato and Sora had to keep telling him not to fall for her sweet girl act -Mimi like to dress her up( since she had no daughter of her own) and she can’t escape from it -She has a crush on Taichi Son and Yamato hate it when Taichi keeps referring her as his future Daughter-In-law. Taichi and the rest actually had a bet if they would get together -She loves sport and music and often plays her newly thought out tune for Gabumon -She loves riding on Birdramon and often pestered Sora about it when her own partner can’t evolves yet. 

Taichi Son:

-He a natural at soccer! But Takeru introduces him to basketball and he enjoyed it too! Every day, Taichi waited with bated breath to see which sport he will join -He taught Agumon to play basketball but gave up when the sharp claw tear through at least a dozen of it -He popular with girls too but no one approaches him as many assume he and Sorato daughter are together. He often wonders why he still single, what did he do wrong? -Sora often told him that he lucky he didn’t inherit Taichi IQ and is smarter than his father -He the only one who loves Mimi strange creation and actually ask for more

Hikari Son:

-He probably the most polite and well manner of the bunch due to Hikari being a teacher -He soft-spoken and naïve, often took advantage of, lucky he had others to look out for him. The baby of the group -He and Tailmon like to take naps together -Joe and Koushiro gift him a camera for his birthday one year and he never goes anywhere without it. All the others Instagram post are taken by him                        - He one of the youngest but when it comes to academic, he really smart and like to geek out with Koushiro daughter 

Mimi Son:

-He never inherits Mimi taste bud and could never figure out the beauty of fried rice with whip cream & strawberry -He not close to the other children at first as he grows up in America but moved to Japan when he older -He can be very open, blunt and cool. Because of this, He had a hard time fitting into Japan more reserve and tradition culture (eg: he hug the rest when he first meets them ) -He knows what plant is safe to eat and what is not safe because of Palmon and had a small cactus in his bedroom -He has a habit of pretending not to know Japanese when he feels it better for the situation. Another habit is going into full English when frustrated or when he insults others. 

Koushiro Daughter:

-She learns how to pick up the important point from Koushiro rumbling from a young age -She a young genius like Koushiro and good in technology but never had an interest in computers. Her main interest is science -She clashes the most with Mimi son at first and find him rude but later become his closest friend -She learns Kansai Dialect from Tentomon -She takes pride in beating the other boys in video game 

Takeru Son:

-He learns about his dad crush on Hikari when they were still kids and always tease Takeru about it                                                                       -He received a hat from Hikari as a joke and he always wore it out since then -He learns guitar from Yamato. His first owned guitar is gifted by Yamato -He and Patamon are the Prank Duo -He was forced to learn soccer by Taichi who insist it only fair and actually enjoy it, he and Taichi son are debating which team to join together

[izzyizumi]

ok if there’s one thing I’m kind of peeved about with the old-new novel translations though it’s

YAMATO holy WHOA Yamato that was NOT COOL

IT’S LIKE THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF HOW IT HAPPENED IN THE SHOW WITH YAMATO+MIMI + THE GRAVES AND I AM ...... maybe a bit peeved

OK BUT THE TAISHIROS AND THEM ALL MAKING UP

..... KINDA MAKES UP FOR IT ANYWAY

[ladyanatui]

Daiken Ultimate Playlist, Pt. 4

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

This is the abridged version of my Spotify playlist for all things Daiken, organized from the start of 02 to…eventually.

Part 4 specifically covers from the episode where Paildramon first evolves to Imperialdramon through the end of the series (ignoring the epilogue obviously).

TRIGGER WARNING: This post discusses depression, suicide, emotional abuse, and PTSD quite a lot. Take care of yourselves, folks!

Spotify Playlist

Click the song titles for YouTube links (apparently you can’t have more than five videos in a post), and otherwise, enjoy me rambling about Daiken.

One final note: Within the lyrics, I’ve emphasized meaningful words, such as night/nightmare, dark/darkness, miracle(s), kind/kindness, courage/bravery, friend/friendship, sun/star/light, fire/burn/ignite, angel(s), and words related to water/drowning.

“Take on the World” by You Me at Six

And it's the fight, and the fight of our lives You and I, we were made to thrive And I am your future, I am your past Never forget that we were built to last Step out of the shadows and into my life Silence the voices that haunt you inside

And just say the word, we'll take on the world And just say you're hurt, we'll face the worst Nobody knows you the way that I know you Look in my eyes, I will never desert you And just say the word, we'll take on the world

While the lyrics lend themselves to describe Daisuke and Ken’s relationship in general, I specifically associate this with episode 39 when the Chosen Children meet with Gennai at Koushiro’s and Daisuke goes to Tamachi to help Ken. This is the episode where Paildramon first evolves to Imperialdramon, who incidentally can fly fast enough to go around the world in seconds (why they didn’t just use him to destroy all the Dark Towers instead of splitting up, I’ll never know), and the next three episodes are the World Tour sequence.

But most importantly, this is episode marks the first time that Ken calls Daisuke by his first name. It’s a really big moment, especially for Ken, who has so much trouble getting close to people. And then, you know, they go pick up the rest of the group in Imperialdramon and literally take on the world (tour).

“Satellite” by Starset

Satellite Shine on me tonight I will be your gravity I will stay and never leave My satellite Are you here tonight? Shine your light and set me free Take the darkness out of me Shine on me

Because Starset only writes songs about space and the sun is a star, a lot of their lyrics are applicable to Daisuke and Ken. I’m not sure I really need to explain this one. The lyrics say enough.

“Enemy” by Eve 6

The autumn sun burning logic in my brain I'm asking why there is pleasure when there's pain I'm here to pay for my mistakes in a humiliating manner If there is a next time, I'll cover up I feel alone, I feel shaky and uncertain A kind man shakes my hand and draws the curtain In a word he saves my life, and then I exit out the enter door and smile

Okay, so then we skip over the World Tour because they’re separated for those three episodes. And what comes next?

Three of my favorite episodes in the season!

Demon/Daemon happens. Buses of children about to die happens. Oikawa kidnapping kids happens. And of course, Ken opening the gate to the Dark World happens.

This one focuses on Ken and his decision to go with Oikawa in an effort to the protect the kidnapped children. He knows how dangerous it is, he knows he’s being manipulated and used, but he has to go because there are young children who’ve been manipulated as well and need his help. (The final two lines of the quote refer to Daisuke when he finally manages to rescue him, but the following songs go in between.)

“Don’t Let Me Down” by The Chainsmokers ft. Daya

Crashing, hit a wall Right now I need a miracle Hurry up now, I need a miracle Stranded, reaching out I call your name but you're not around I say your name but you're not around

I need you, I need you, I need you right now Yeah, I need you right now So don't let me, don't let me, don't let me down

While Oikawa has him prisoner, literally tied up (which doesn’t seem to bother any of the kids who insist they weren’t kidnapped? what?), who do you think he hopes comes to save him?

Yep, it’s Daisuke.

Okay, he calls for Wormmon too, but Daisuke is first. Because Daisuke is his knight in shining armor, and he knows Daisuke will not rest until he has Ken safe again. He has such utter faith in him, and it’s beautiful. (And I probably don’t need to point out that the song says “I need a miracle” and the fact that Daisuke is the only person who uses the Digimental of Miracles and that miracles has basically become synonymous with Daisuke in the fandom, right?)

“The Last of the Real Ones” by Fall Out Boy

I was just an only child of the universe And then I found you You are the sun and I am just the planets Spinning around you You were too good to be true Gold plated But what's inside you I know this whole damn city thinks it needs you But not as much as I do

And here’s another song that puts Daisuke in the role of being the sun with Ken revolving around him and, of course, in the role of Ken’s savior. It’s a pretty damn accurate depiction of their relationship and of how Ken views Daisuke. As the leader of the 02 Chosen Children, Daisuke is a source of hope for the whole world, though, and while Ken certainly doesn’t begrudge the world for needing Daisuke (he is the one who basically saves the day by being his normal optimistic self in the final episodes), I’m not so sure he wants to share.

“Tidal Wave” by Owl City

I forget the last time I felt brave I just recall insecurity 'Cause it came down like a tidal wave And sorrow swept over me Then I was given grace and love I was blind, but now I can see 'Cause I've found a new hope from above And courage swept over me

This song always stands out to me on the playlist because it directly mentions depression and also uses water metaphors to describe things. Between Oikawa and Demon, Ken is absolutely terrified, and even though he’s helped the Chosen Children throughout the previous fifteen episodes or so, he has cast himself in this role of being very insecure and needing to make amends. But it’s finally time for him to start to truly move on from his past and accept that not everything was his fault. Part of that means facing Oikawa, who manipulated him into becoming the Digimon Kaiser, and part of that means facing Demon, who is a blatant symbol for the darkness that haunts him. And during all of this, he has Daisuke there to be his courage and his miracle and help him through it all.

“Dodging Raindrops” by 311

I'm letting go, giving up the control Yeah, I'm ready to go wherever the wind blows I wanna see where the road's gonna lead Time is ticking and the world is not waiting on me

I've been dodging raindrops for far too long These clouds over my head, they won't move on I've been dodging raindrops, trying not to get wet I've been dodging raindrops for far too long Dodging raindrops But they're all in my head, all in my head

This whole song is basically a giant metaphor for depression and deciding to stop ignoring the symptoms and actually deal with them. Because of that, it seems appropriate for the moment Ken decides to use the power of his dark digivice to open a gate to the Dark World. It’s an incredibly risky thing to do and he has no idea whether it’ll actually work, but he knows it’s the best chance they have and he’s willing to take the risk.

“Trials” by Starset

These trials make us who we are, who we are, we are We're motivated by the scars that we're made of These trials make us who we are, who we are, we are We take our places in the dark And turn our hearts to the stars

I think it’s pretty safe to say that all of the Chosen have trials to face in order to achieve what they do to battle the darkness. But no one faces more trials and tribulations than Ken, and that’s incredibly apparent to the other five when he forces open the dark gate, truly facing his darkness and fighting against it.

“Get Up” by Shinedown

If you were ever in doubt Don't sell yourself short, you might be bulletproof Hard to move mountains when you're paralyzed But you gotta try And I'm calling out

Of course, everyone comes to support Ken. He’s finally fully one of the group, but the order everyone comes to his aid is important.

First is Hikari, who probably understands Ken’s relationship with the darkness and the Dark World the best since it too called to her. Then Takeru, who has always felt so strongly about fighting the darkness, which is super obvious in this season (Takeru totally has PTSD and anger issues from Angemon dying in the first season, but really, at this point, which Chosen Child doesn’t have PTSD?). Next is Miyako, who was super hesitant about him joining the group, but once she was on board with the idea, she was fully committed. Last, of course, is Iori, who was the last person to accept Ken, and this moment feels like another moment that Iori realizes how far Ken has really come and accepts him even more.

But Iori isn’t actually the last person. For once, Daisuke remains behind.

“Light Up the Sky” by Yellowcard

I can't find a wall to pin this to They're all coming down since I've found you I just wanna be where you are tonight I run in the dark looking for some light And how will we know if we just don't try We won't ever know

Let me light up the sky Light it up for you Let me tell you why I would die for you Let me light up the sky Light it up for you Let me make this mine I'll ignite for you

Logically, it could be argued that Daisuke should have been the first one at Ken’s side to support him while he opens the dark gate. He’s Ken’s biggest supporter and closest friend, after all. It would be easy to assume they left Daisuke for last purely because he makes a big speech, and for the sake of story tension, that speech needs to come after everyone else already jumps in to help. It would be easy to assume that.

But to do so is to ignore who Daisuke is at his core.

Yes, story-wise, they keep his speech till the end to give the most impact, but it has to work on a character level as well. And on a character level, Daisuke--sweet, wonderful Daisuke--has always believed in Ken and will always believe in Ken. He believes in Ken with every ounce of his being, and it is because of that that he isn’t the first person at his side.

“Weight of Living, Pt. 1″ by Bastille

There's an albatross around your neck All the things you've said And the things you've done Can you carry it with no regrets Can you stand the person you've become Ooh there's a light Ooh there's a light

Your Albatross, let it go, let it go Your Albatross shoot it down, shoot it down When you just can't shake the Heavy weight of living

Daisuke believes Ken can do this because Ken is strong enough to face his demons (while quite literally facing a Digimon called Demon), and when Daisuke finally steps in to help, he does so with one of the most moving speeches in the whole series:

You’ve been troubled, suffered, and broke free of the power of darkness, right? Haven’t you atoned for what you did? So there’s nothing to fear anymore. Believe in yourself! You can’t lose to the power of darkness. We’re here for you.

It’s important to note that the majority of his speech has far more to do with telling Ken to believe in himself using a logic most people don’t assume he’s capable of. It’s only until the last line, after he’s already broken through to Ken, that he iterates the fact that the rest of them are there to support him.

To Daisuke, it’s most important that Ken realize he is strong enough to fight this, that he doesn’t need to be afraid anymore, that he’s changed.

“Dream” by Imagine Dragons

We all are living in a dream But life ain't what it seems Oh everything's a mess And all these sorrows I have seen They lead me to believe That everything's a mess But I wanna dream I wanna dream Leave me to dream

Unfortunately, there isn’t much time between the Daemon Corps and when the Chosen Children follow Oikawa and the kids into the Dream World. After BelialVamdemon reveals himself, he sends the Chosen into a trance-like state where they envision their deepest dreams. The others see illusions of their broken family becoming one, humans and Digimon living together peacefully, seeing their dead father, or getting all the attention they want from their parents, but what does Ken see?

“Dear Agony” by Breaking Benjamin

Suddenly The lights go out Let forever Drag me down I will fight for one last breath I will fight until the end

And I will find the enemy within 'Cause I can feel it crawl beneath my skin

Oh yeah. He sees himself as the Digimon Kaiser essentially getting lynched by all the Digimon he hurt while under the influence of the Dark Seed. That’s not fucked up at all.

Obviously, Ken still has a long way to go as far as dealing with his trauma, but there’s one really important thing to note: He sees the lynching from an outside perspective, as if the Kaiser chained to the Dark Tower is not actually himself. I’m sure whether to accept his actions as the Kaiser as his actual actions, knowing he was manipulated by the Dark Seed, is something he struggles with regularly.

“My Demons” by Starset

I cannot stop this sickness taking over It takes control and drags me into nowhere I need your help, I can't fight this forever I know you're watching I can feel you out there

Don't let me go I need a savior to heal my pain When I become my worst enemy The enemy

His vision is then interrupted by his brother Osamu coming onto the scene and telling him to forgive himself and move on, so this vision has some good points as well.

Osamu: Ken, you have suffered enough. You have already paid for your sins. Ken: My sins have been paid for? Osamu: Yeah. Ken: It’s over. It’s over now.

He obviously still believes he deserves to suffer for what he did, but what he wants more than anything is to move on from that and not have it affect him anymore.

Wormmon, of course, is there to remind him that that isn’t possible, that we can’t live in the past (before Osamu died) and we can’t pretend the bad things didn’t happen. There’s too much at stake--not just the fight against BelialVamdemon, but to pretend those things didn’t happen means we don’t learn from our mistakes and we don’t improve.

“I Want to Live” by Skillet

All I ever needed was a reason to believe You help me hold on, you ignite the fire in me You always come for me, you know just what I need Don't make me wait for this, save me from this darkness I reach for the light

I want to live my life The choice is mine, I've made up my mind Now, I'm free to start again The way I want to live (to live) and breathe (and breathe) The way I want that's right for me I may not know nothing else But I know this, I want to live

Daisuke and Takeru show up then, and then the rest of the group, and they’re each there to support him, to show him they believe in him.

I find it interesting that all Daisuke says when he shows up is, “That’s right, Ken!” Once again, while everyone else says something that’s meant to lift his spirits and guide him in the right direction, Daisuke simply affirms Ken’s decisions and thoughts. He knows Ken will come to the right conclusion, and he doesn’t have to say any more than that.

Then, of course, they go back to the Dream World to fight BelialVamdemon for the final battle.

“King and Lionheart” by Of Monsters and Men

But you're a king and I'm a lion-heart And as the world comes to an end I'll be here to hold your hand 'Cause you're my king and I'm your lionheart

Obviously the world doesn’t come to an end because they defeat the bad guy and save the world and everything is magical again because Oikawa does something useful with his life (death), but the sentiment stands.

“Difficult Year” by Keane

Some days it seems okay Got some good friends around me But I'm still scared of losing my head I guess there's just something selfish about me

I've had a little bad luck Well, it's mostly my own making I thought I had it all sewn up But I was so badly mistaken

The series ends here, a little after Christmas but definitely before New Year’s, as New Year’s is a huge deal in Japan and, even around the climax, I don’t think they could get away with pretending it wasn’t happening. Considering the show started at the beginning of the school year, which is April in Japan, the series lasts about nine months, and boy has it been a trying year for all the Chosen Children.

Obviously, it’s been more than trying for Ken, and while he’s made tons of improvements throughout the season, he still has a long way to go to heal from his traumatic experiences, and Daisuke will be there with him along the way.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4