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seventeenlovesthree · 1 year

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As mentioned in my previous analysis posts, my memory on 02 has been rather blurry, but upon rewatching vital scenes of both 02 and Tri, it’s just interesting how often this general theme is being brought up.

Basically, there are two moral aspects the Adventure universe always falls back on:

Killing Digimon in general (including enemies)

Killing Digimon that are ALSO somebody’s partner and/or a friend

Throughout the first three arcs of Adventure, “killing” Digimon had not been an issue, as there were mainly “enemies” and the children were also (indirectly) on a quest for survival as well. It’s not before the Dark Master’s arc (and the killing of Wizarmon prior to it) that the subject of death becomes one they have to actively debate on (not including the death of Angemon here, even though that definitely left some scarring in Takeru). It’s Mimi wanting to mourn the fallen Digimon, Taichi immediately wanting to press on in order not to see more victims happen and Yamato opposing him on that, saying that he needs to let them process what happened. The everlasting conflict of “being (in)considerate” that lingers between these two here is one (of several) aspect(s) that makes them get into a fight, causing the group to split up afterwards. Mimi (and Jyou) leaves because she doesn’t want to witness more death - even though that is exactly what she has to face in the end. Taichi (who has been personally affected by the trauma of almost having killed his sister when they were children) becomes even more contemplative - and it’s him trying to reason with Yamato, trying to get them all to work together and snapping out of his “silly rivalry attitude” in order to stop all of this, not wanting the prior victims to have died in vain.

In the end, they all had to come to the conclusion that there are sacrifices that HAVE to be made. That - even with the Village of Beginnings existing - there will be losses they cannot avoid.

That is also why Yamato is the one who - in return - punches Taichi three years later during 02 once he is faltering. Agumon getting corrupted is one of the first instances where they actively have to face the idea of “killing a friend”. And due to their experiences before that, they quickly come to the conclusion that it may not be avoidable in order to achieve peace for the greater good.

And that is the theme that gets repeated again and again. While Daisuke, Iori and Miyako visibly struggle with this theme throughout the entirety of Adventure 02 due to never having had to face the idea of killing a living being, all the others have already personally seen death happen before their very eyes - and one might argue that they’re not dealing with it well either. Takeru had SEEN his own partner getting killed before (and will struggle with the prospect of it happening again in Tri once more, even hiding the fact out of sheer fear of facing it once more, as he is already dealing with abandonment issues). Hikari had witnessed Wizarmon die (and also doesn’t deal very well with whenever it happens to other innocent Digimon as well). Ken still deals with the aftermath of his brother’s death as well as seeing Wormmon die in his arms due to the mistakes he made, having to overcome the feeling of guilt as well as rediscovering his own self-worth.

If we take Hurricane Touchdown into consideration as well, it is no surprise that the prospect of killing a corrupted (!) Digimon partner of a newly found friend is terrifying Daisuke and reduces him to tears of empathy.

And then we have Hikari’s reactions seen above; let’s remember that Taichi has a tendency to be indecisive once faced with a situation that overwhelms him, so he may or may not need Yamato to punch him out of that state. To remind him to make rational decisions again, to remind him what they’re there for. That’s why we see him so calm and collected here in 02 (albeit also looking very grim about it). It’s not because he likes the idea of killing, but he knows that he has to do it and at this point in time, he has fully grasped the meaning of it. He’s also aware that the younger kids will have their issues with it due to their lack of experience and exposure. That’s why Hikari looks so tormented. She knows it as well. She doesn’t want it - her dream is to live in a peaceful world of symbiosis in which humans and Digimon can live in symbiosis without fighting one another, without having to face sacrifices again and again. It physically makes her flinch to think back to the events of 1999 once Taichi mentions it.

And interestingly enough, they will have a conversation like this again - with similar yet different circumstances.

The entirety of Tri revolves, once again, around a Digimon partner being corrupted and the children having to make the decision to end it for good. And once again, Hikari absolutely doesn’t want it to happen. She is aware of the necessity to fight, always has been, yet Taichi eventually coming to the conclusion (AGAIN) that they have to go for the kill (AGAIN) distresses her. Saying that every being of darkness has a side of light as well that deserves to be saved, hoping that there will be a way to succeed without having to compromise. And yet...

“I...”

“But that is also why...”

Taichi’s whole deal throughout Tri has been that he had felt like a coward for not being able to act. That he thought he could have seen things more clearly when he was still a “kid”. Yamato basically yelled at him again for not being sharp enough as well, for not remembering what was important, even if they had come to the same conclusion again and again and again. And it’s not like Yamato doesn’t struggle with it himself - on the contrary, it’s the main reason WHY he gets so angry at Taichi throughout Tri, because after all this time, he expected Taichi to be on the same page, to understand all this (and probably hating to see him faltering in the same way he himself once did). And yet - Yamato has his doubts about allowing a friend’s partner to get killed himself, but is also aware of the necessity.

In the end, these emotional “contradictions” (if you want to call it that) are just too understandable. Because as much as we may know that something is “the right thing to do”, doesn’t mean that it’s “the easy thing to do”. (We may even come full circle taking Kizuna into account, as this one basically demands both Taichi and Yamato to “sacrifice” their partners for the greater good as well. This time, they’re not corrupted, but the theme of sacrifice remains the center of the conclusion, as it is the price they have to pay for having lost their ways before.)

#digimon #taichi yagami #hikari yagami #anime #meta #my two cents #the child warrior aspect of digimon gets really dark the longer you think about it and it gives me shivers #it's literally the theme of the entire franchise and yet you only really grasp its true horrors once you look deeper into it #yamato ishida #digimon adventure 02 #digimon adventure #digimon adventure tri

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digi-lov · 2 months

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With each of these sets released, I wanted to compare them again.

Like I've mentioned before, EX-03 Draconic Roar, EX-05 Animal Colosseum, and EX-06 Infernal Ascension are based on the Pendulum Progress vpets from 2002. Animal Coloseum kept the name as is, Draconic Roar was Dragon's Roar, and Infernal Ascension replaced the name Armageddon Army. (A very understandable name change)

A large percentage of the Digimon featured in the Pendulum Progress versions were included in the respective card sets. Many of those who weren't included had similar replacements.

As the name suggests, Draconic Roar included many Digimon related to dragons. Since many main character Digimon fall into that category, frequently featured Digimon such as the Greymon line were exluded. This set's Agumon is yellow and the suggested line goes to Veedramon and AeroVeedramon, reminiscent of the V-Tamer manga. Veemon is red in this set, and instead of the usual Ex-Veemon we get Fladramon, along with purple Wormmon and Shadramon, going into a dark Imperialdramon line. Instead of Tyrannomon and MetalTyrannomon, we have DarkTyrannomon and ExTyrannomon too. This set also featured many dragon Digimon that have debuted since the Pendulum Progress, such as Dracomon and its two lines, and the Vorvomon and Jazamon lines from Digimon Links.

The Pendulum Progress Animal Colosseum contains many beast Digimon, notably the Four Sovereigns. The card set expanded on that and not only included the Four Sovereigns, but also their leader Fanglongmon, as well as all 12 Deva serving under them. Like the vpet, this set also featured many X Antibody Digimon, although many of them were switched in the card set. Such as Leomon being included instead of Leomon X, or Dobermon X instead of Dobermon. We also got the card debut of Lunamon and Coronamon and their respective lines, as well as the player chatacters from their debut games Digimon Dusk/Moonlight and Dawn/Sunburst!

Infernal Ascension has a dual theme of Angels and Demons. While the Pendulum Progress included all Three Great Angel, there was only room for two Demon Lords. For the card set all Seven Great Demon Lords got featured (and also received matching alt arts!) Many of the replacements also make sense. Instead of Terriermon and Siesamon we got Lopmon and Turuiemon leading into Antylamon. While Tsukaimon works as a replacement of Patamon in style, it isn't in the Angel lines. The role is instead filled by Luxmon, a very recent addition to the Digimon franchise. Same goes for ArkhaiAngemon taking MagnaAngemon's spot, and Dominimon finally getting recognition! The addition of Mastemon is just perfect for this set too. We also get some holy-themed Digimon from the chinese game New Century for the first time!

So yeah

I just think it's fun to look at these Theme Boosters and compare what they kept, what they changed, and what they expanded upon. Goes to show how much our list of Digimon has grown in the last 20 years!

#digimon #digimon tcg #digimon card game #digisafe #digica #デジカ #lov rambles #EX3 #EX5 #EX6 #Pendulum Progress #Draconic Roar #Animal Coloseum #Infernal Ascension #trait: dragon #trait: angel #trait: fallen angel #trait: beast

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shihalyfie · 6 months

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Shihanne's 02TB FAQ

Here's a 02TB version of the Kizuna FAQ I made earlier, where I answer questions to things you may be curious about regarding the movie while trying to stay as spoiler-free as possible! This is, again, not a post made to convince anyone towards or against watching the movie, but rather just something to provide assistance for people who might be on the fence about watching the movie or want to know certain things before going in.

Like with the last post, I will be organizing this post in such a way that the story references to what happens in it will get more and more extensive as the post goes on. The more you read, the less "blind" you'll be going in, or the more there may be risk of you being able to figure out what happens in it. So if you want to stay fresh to a certain extent, you should just stick to reading the first few questions! (However, also as with before, I won't be including any major story beats in here, just generic allusions.)

What do I need to have seen beforehand in order to watch this movie? Are tri. and/or Kizuna necessary to understand it?

Perhaps surprisingly, I personally think you can still enjoy this movie even if you've never seen a Digimon thing in your life before (something I would not say about either tri. or Kizuna!). However, I do think you should at least know:

the basic concept of what a Digimon partner is

the context that the 02 group has known each other since they were in elementary school and overcome a lot of things together

the context of the proliferating Chosen Children all around the world and the epilogue it's going to be leading up to

...but other than that, you'd probably be fine even if you have no idea about anything else. Still, the movie will definitely be greatly improved if you've seen 02, because you'll have better surrounding context of what these characters are like, what they'd done together in the past, and what little things here and there are referencing.

Even then, the 02 main TV series (and possibly the second movie, Diablomon Strikes Back) is really the part that could be said to be most relevant. Adventure is largely relevant only for (very mild) context behind Takeru and Hikari's characterizations, and there are virtually no substantial references to Kizuna. tri. is actually downright contradicted by this movie's contents, to the point where the official timeline leading up to it straight-up omits it. So even if you've never seen anything past 02, you're still perfectly good to go.

(If you do see someone reporting that they referenced tri. by using the name "Homeostasis" at one point, note that the name was used in an Adventure novel from 2001; it doesn't actually originate from tri., and the way the name is used is compliant with Adventure lore.)

How 02-referential/fanservice-loaded is this movie?

Very little. Despite what the advertising might suggest, there really aren't a lot of references to things that were in the 02 TV series, other than the fact it has its characters and is obviously set in a point in timeline after it. (Of course, there's still the evolution sequences and all, but that goes without saying.) In fact, most of the "references" to 02 are vague and not explicitly stated, so it's a very "if you know, you Know" affair -- for instance, the Kaiser is not mentioned even once in the entire movie, but Ken and Wormmon's lines are very obviously written with that background in mind, and if you know what happened, their words carry much more weight.

The main character of this movie is Rui, and the story of the movie is about him (official media has been open about this), so you can think of it as a mostly original story that happens to be rather 02-flavored. Or to put it a different way, it's more like 02 episode 51 than it is a 02 tribute; it builds on 02's themes and characters, but more in terms of building on top of them rather than referencing past stuff.

How much of a role do the 02 characters play in the plot?

Since Rui is really the main character of the movie in practice, the 02 characters are "support characters", similar to the way they supported Wallace in Hurricane Touchdown. This is a good thing, and in fact most hardcore 02 fans I personally know agree that this is for the better; the 02 cast has a specialty in supporting others, and the best way to show off their character development is to show off how good they've gotten at reaching out to others like Rui.

Moreover, the movie also goes out of its way to portray the 02 group as a solid group that bounces off of each other, so it's less about each individual character getting any super-impressive moments and more about the way they interact and how deeply they know each other. The movie itself is also about relationships and connection, so it's thematically appropriate, both for the movie and for 02 itself.

Is the 02 epilogue retconned?

Hell no. The movie is very obviously building up to it (even more so than Kizuna was).

How are Takeru and Hikari portrayed in relation to the rest of the group?

They're regular members of the group, and there's no real separation between them and the rest of the group at all.

Does the movie resolve Kizuna's lingering question regarding partnership dissolution?

For better or for worse, no. It's a completely self-contained story, and its only connections to Kizuna are the fact it takes a lot of elements from the worldbuilding/setting it added. (For the record, I'm of the opinion that there's no need for anything new to answer Kizuna's question, but that's a digression.) The movie does give you more lore about Digimon partnerships that you could potentially apply to figuring out the situation in Kizuna, but it leaves the question untouched.

The movie prioritizes its own integrity as a standalone story first and foremost, so (again, for better or for worse) it doesn't have too many connections to other things.

How much of a role do the Adventure characters play in the plot?

Taichi and Koushirou have an extremely short background cameo in the beginning of the movie, and they're also briefly namedropped. There's a quick scene depicting a flashback/past representation of young Taichi and Hikari, but it has no plot relevance (the PVs were probably overselling this a bit...). Koushirou is namedropped later in the movie. Other than that, there's nothing relevant to the Adventure characters (sans Takeru and Hikari, naturally) at all.

Is there time travel in the movie?

No, or at least nothing that would be outside the range of what's effectively a vision/flashback. The PVs probably suggested that more aggressively than what had actually happened, and it seems to be a common misconception about the events of the movie, but there are more than enough context clues in the story that indicate that the "past" shown in the movie is more of a representational space than literal time travel.

Is it true that some really messed up stuff happens in this movie?

There are two major content warnings I would give the movie: one for a clear depiction of child abuse, and one for mild body horror (not super-graphically depicted, but definitely something that's very uncomfortable to think about). Neither depiction is particularly unusual for Digimon standards, and if you've played some of the video games like Cyber Sleuth or Survive, it's not even remotely near that level. (And besides, 02 itself certainly had its fair share of psychological horror, even if it was comparatively more subtle in order to accommodate for kids' show network restrictions.) Still, it may be something you want to know about before going in.

There is also a mild amount of blood in one scene, but it's not any worse than the equivalent scene in Kizuna, and in fact, the animation framing is clearly trying to prevent it from getting too graphic; the blood is mainly there in a "with that kind of injury, it'd be weird if there weren't blood" sense, so it's definitely not trying to come off as a violence fest or anything.

For all it's worth, despite the above factors, and despite the fact the middle of the movie definitely starts getting into some serious psychological horror territory, I would say that overall, this is actually a very sentimental, feel-good movie. There's nothing that feels like it's there for shock value, and in fact, there aren't even any real surprising or shocking plot twists or anything; the main core of the story is about talking about relationships and what's important for a good one, and it takes that theme and commits itself fully to it.

Why is there a new version of Target when the opening is the original version?

So, you know how Target also happened to be the evolution insert song for Imperialdramon...

How much of a lore retcon is in this movie?

There are definitely things that seem contradictory to anyone who has a passing casual knowledge of Adventure lore, but in fact, if you know it deeply, there isn't really a hard contradiction at all.

It's actually a plot point that the 02 group isn't sure what to believe is the right lore, and that they're making their best guess as they go along. The new things they learn in the movie ostensibly seem to be contrary to what they'd learned earlier about how partnerships work, but this contradiction is directly pointed out in the movie itself, and there's a very clear sense of uncertainty as to how everything works and what the true mechanics are behind everything.

For what it's worth, even in the original series, entities like Homeostasis and the Holy Beasts were not portrayed as all-powerful, and were depicted as also trying to figure out this whole thing as they went along. So while the new introductions to lore are probably outside what Kakudou would have liked (yeah, this has been getting kind of awkward...), just speaking from a detached perspective, there's nothing strictly contradictory.

On the other hand, the entire existence of Rui as the first Chosen Child from 1996 makes tri.'s plot pretty much entirely impossible, so that's probably why the aforementioned official timeline actually omitted it. That said, Wallace has a cameo, so even if the part about him meeting Chocomon and Gumimon in 1995 doesn't work anymore, he's definitely still canon. (Note that Mochizuki Meiko appeared in Kizuna, and one of the novels explicitly describes her as having met the Adventure kids in high school, so just because tri. isn't in the timeline as-is doesn't mean it's as simple as "the series isn't canon anymore".)

Are there romance depictions in the movie?

Nothing overt, but there's definitely something that's practically the absolute embodiment of "if you know, you Know."

#digimon #digimon adventure 02 the beginning #02tb spoilers

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ahiddenpath · 6 months

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Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning

I just got home from seeing the Japanese audio/English sub. This is not a review, and I doubt I'll feel the same way about it in a few days, because I'm all up in my emotions and I haven't had a think on it. So here is nothing more or less than my visceral, 100% subjective reaction.

Extreme spoilers beneath the cut, spoilin spoilin all day long. Also cussing and blaspheming, apparently I like to keep it classy.

My head is a boiling vat of pudding.

As the film ended, someone screamed, "Toei why you gotta do us like that?!" Someone else yelled, "Jesus Christ I did not need that in my life." As we filed out, another gem: "They had a digital god in this one, and they still didn't unfuck Kizuna." (That last one, I think, while funny, was not relevant. This wasn't about the older kids, they had their turn and several more, lmao).

Some notes:

-Genuinely I was not prepared for a horror. Or child abuse. I love horror games! I watch them nearly daily! Did you know I have only once been more upset/disturbed by a horror video game than I was by this movie?

Did people take their kids to this? Like, that seems totally reasonable to me, taking your kid to digimon!!! Jesus cHRISt!!!!

-I thought my bar of, "I want to see the 02 kids grown up and interacting," was so, so low. I thought my bar could not be lower. But this was Lui's story, not theirs. And this is Toei's story, not mine, so I have to accept that... They wrote what they wanted to. But yeah, the bar I thought was low was not cleared.

-SOMEONE HELP ME, Himekawa is older than Lui. Himekawa's group, they were the first Chosen. Right??? Does the time line not shake out here??? Himekawa was probably about 10/11 when she was Chosen, and she's a full ass adult in Tri??? So, like, I guess the question is, how much older is her group than Lui at age 4? Are they at least 6 years older???? But- God what age would that make- God damn let me get the chart. Shit, I'm lost. Help??????

Shit I liked:

-Lui's second birthday scene

Not the original scene where Lui meets Ukkomon. This is the second birthday, his 8th birthday, where they sit in a dark room full of presents and treats. Ukkomon mentions Lui's parents and friends. They enter the room and proceed to not say a single ducking word while Ukkomon and Lui talk and talk and talk, and it is the creepiest and most atmospheric shit I have seen. Holy shit!!!!

Obviously, the audience already knows shit is fucked up with Ukkomon, but at this point, ooooooooooooooooo baby that tension is HIGH.

-Power in the hands of children

Ukkomon is, like, seconds old when he meets Lui. Lui is 4 and extremely disenfranchised, even for a 4-year-old. Lui wishes for what he doesn't have. Ukkomon devotes his whole self to those wishes.

What happens when a 4 year old meets a baby genie? When that much power is in the hands of the innocent?

You don't want to know, trust me. Lowkey wish I didn't know!!! Christ on a bike!

As much as we love digimon and the Chosen and all of that, it's always been messed up how much power they have, and how much responsibility. It's so much pressure, it's so high stakes! It was really cool to see Toei explore how sideways all of this could go, literally at any moment.

-A few character moments

Honestly that part where a girl is chatting up Ken and Wormmon is visibly pissed is, like, my favorite thing in this movie. Oh! Also I loved seeing the international Chosen, that was so great. The gut scream of WALLACE/WILLIS in the theater when he appeared!!!!!!

Bonus:

My husband said he liked how there was a command center in Imperialdramon's head. I think that was actually some kind of... plane??? Made by Ukkomon??? I have no idea. You know, the place where Ken and Daisuke are accused of flirting.

Stuff I didn't like

-It was half flash back

I'm being a little harsh here, because stuff other than flashbacks happened in the first 46 minutes, but... I checked my phone after the final flashback (not counting Lui jumping into Ukkomon in the end). I was 46 minutes into a roughly 90 minute film. I'm not against flashbacks in principle, and I tend to like new characters, but... This just wasn't what I hoped for in a movie about the 02 kids. I accept that this is 100% subjective.

-It was too damned fucked up for my tastes

Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeesus H Christ!!!!!

Okay, so first of all, I generally am of the opinion that a lot of recent media has substituted trauma for substance. It's easy to make an audience pity/relate to/feel protective of a character by showing them suffer.

Lui wetting himself was so disturbing for me- in children, that's often a sign of ongoing abuse. I could easily be reading into it, but that combined with the range of age of his bruises (and he had more fresh contusions, too, they start red and turn purple and brown and eventually a yellow green) hinted that this wasn't some one off occasion caused by a sudden spike of stress. That was Lui's life. And he really might have frozen to death that night, if not for Ukkomon.

In a way, if I'm right and not just reading into things, this scene was well done. But also, like... I just don't enjoy the substitution of trauma for gradually making us care about a character and understand what they've been through. It seems like some kind of heavy handed short cut, and it usually has the opposite effect on me- thrusting me out of the narrative and making me distrustful of it.

Or maybe I'm just distancing myself, because I genuinely get so upset.

And don't even get me started on the scene where Ukkomon dissolves. I was not ready for that shit. It was just too much for me, I'm sensitive, lmao!

-I'm not sure what I think of the Chosen reacting to Lui's story

I kind of felt like the Chosen were oddly hard on Lui? They weren't actually, in reality they encouraged him to find a resolution with Ukkomon and reminded him that relationships go two ways.

But, like. Could someone have, like... Idk I was really waiting for someone to cry or hug Lui or reassure him or something? Instead it was like, "Poor Ukkomon. He tried so hard and you relied on him too much!"

And my visceral reaction to that was, "UKKOMON KILLED AT LEAST ONE OF LUI'S PARENTS AND MADE THEM MEAT PUPPETS FOR YEARS, JESUS!!!! AND YOU WANT LUI TO GO SEE UKKOMON AGAIN?!?!?!?!?" Like, that whole thing was literally a nightmare??? But Ukkomon was an actual whole ass baby god, and then again, as my husband put it, "Ukkomon did what CPS wouldn't." Lui needed help, stat.

I'm gonna need some time to sort how I feel about this. I can say that, as I watched, I felt like the emotional tone was really off for the last half of the film. All I could think about was the horror, and any time someone criticized Lui, or even told him to go see Ukkomon, I was just like- MEAT. PUPPET!!!! MEAT!!! PUPPET!!!! (Did those kids that Ukkomon made Lui's friends also die?!?!?!). Literally, snow was falling and the Chosen were playing, and my head was like, MEAT. PUPPET!!!!

There's no walking back that emotion, at least not in a 40 some minute window. Not for me, personally. I'm probably going to have nightmares. If I knew going in that this was a horror, I'd be fine with that. But gdi I though I'd see my blorbos having good times mixed with a plot.

Instead, nightmares.

-Lui's final scene with his mother

Lui tells himself, "This time, when I go back in time... I won't rely on Ukkomon for everything" (paraphrasing). He sees his mother inside his memory of his 4th birthday. He says to her, roughly, "Lui loves you, please remember that."

And magically, the mom is kind to him that night.

Now, to be fair, even disastrous relationships can have good times. Maybe it would have been just that night that was better. But there was this feeling of, "Oh, if I just talked to my mother when I was 4 years old and horrifically abused, it would have been different."

That just isn't how that works. If I had to guess, the film is just supporting communication. But god, don't ever point back to the child victim like that. Too bad that 4 year old doesn't know how to communicate with his abusive caregiver! Things might have been different!!!!!

I'm sensitive to this kind of thing, so it's totally possible I'm fixating too much on this or blowing up the importance of this moment. But yeah, not a good emotional reaction to that.

In summary: this was not the film I wanted. In fact, it's a film that will stick on me like a burr, but like. In a bad way? But also it did have some killer ideas. Ukkomon has to be one of the most interesting things to hit Adventure in years. So much power in the hands of an innocent, so disastrous so very fast.

My brain is still pudding. Time for some nightmares. Good night, I hope the film didn't distress you if you saw it! And my sympathies if you took your children, the biggest of oofs (how could you have known??? You couldn't have).

#spoilers #digimon spoiler #digimon spoilers #digimon #digimon adventure 02 #digimon adventure 02 the beginning #02tb spoilers #02tb #hidden reacts #reaction #faves

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skydigiblogs · 20 days

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honestly thought i would have a lot more to say about adventure 02 but like

i just finished episode 50 and the jist of my thoughts really are "yeah this is better than i remembered it being"

overall, an extremely ambitious follow up to digimon adventure, balancing a lot of plot points and an attempt at having a more cohesive storyline than "bad guy of the arc but suddenly it's apocalymon." in 02, most of the bad guys lead from one to another, in a way that seems much more intentionally thought-out than everything up until the dark master's arc in 01. even the one-off antagonists (dark ocean and demon's crew) played into the larger narrative, and weren't necessarily treated as one-offs so much as chances to expand the scope of the lore and use it to the narrative's benefit.

(although i do think it's a bit sad we never saw follow up on demon going "oh, you all are going to regret sending me to dagomon's ocean SOOOOO much")

also a lot of lore. so much lore. 01 introduced the fact that homeostasis has a bunch of agents that look like gennai, but a2 kept suggesting they're all copies (put a pin in that for my tri rewatch, much as i am loathe to rewatch that one). there wasn't any elaboration, but it is an interesting idea, and unfortunately i understand why it was kind of hastily noted and dismissed (the world tour arc had a lot to get to).

also the dimensional makeup of the digimon franchise got a lot more fascinating in 02. in 01 gennai mentioned that the gate could lead to all kinds of different places, but 02 actually takes that a step further in the lore, showing us the dark ocean and the dimension of dreams (even mentioning that the latter is pulled from by the digital world).

but it does maintain some of the problems i had with the original adventure in that i do wish more of the kids got to see their mega forms. :/

(i know tamers fixes that somewhat, then frontiers backpedals, but. you can't get me to rewatch frontiers lmao.)

furthermore, it does kind of suck that we're still left to wonder about ken's adventures in the digital world. we see ryo and millenniumon in his flashbacks to the adventures, but for audience members who missed out entirely on the wonderswan games, it makes it so we have to trust wormmon's word that ken was a kind person in the past. it's shown to an effective degree in the show, especially with his flashbacks to his childhood after the chimeramon arc.

it also makes narrative sense that they didn't feel the need to go over a story that's already happened, because that likely would have taken too long for 02, which already had so much going on. but maaaaaan. i do not want to play the wonderswan games, frfr (though i know there are fan translations out there for 'em).

i do love ken's arc though, as frustrating as him struggling with self-doubt is to watch. i'm glad the writers didn't make it seem too easy for him to forgive himself, because that's hard even if you weren't the vessel for like. All That Shit. i'm giving this boy a weighted blanket and hot tea.

tl;dr: compared to the oftentimes fever-dream like qualities of 01, 02 feels a lot more narratively focused in its story, and i think that really works to its favor. not a flawless season, but none of the digimon seasons are. a successful sequel to 01, much more so than i remembered from my last rewatch of the dub in 2020.

#sky talks #digimon #digimon adventure #digimon adventure 02 #“i don't have much to say about 02” //proceeds to write a mini essay//#don't mind me lmao #if this is rambly and unfocused it is because i am dealing with the triple threat of spoony issues today #watching digimon is how i get through my flare ups nskdjfnksjdnfds

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otakween · 5 months

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Digimon Adventure 02 Best Partner Series - Part 2

Lol why are the girls' butts so emphasized in this artwork. Seems sketchy, but okay (Tailmon's even pointing to Hikari's butt, as a YouTube commenter pointed out).

Questionable art aside, I definitely thought these 6 CDs were a little weaker than the ones in my first post, but I'm biased. I don't have a very strong connection with a lot of the 02 characters, so it makes sense that their songs wouldn't hit as hard for me. On the other hand, I really like Ken and Wormmon so their album slapped. Anyways, full thoughts below.

Daisuke & Veemon

Google Boy - Daisuke (Listen here - subbed)

Daisuke singing about being a hot blooded shounen boy and how his goggles are a mark of his coolness and Taichi's legacy. A very Daisuke song lol.

Pretty funny how goggles just became a signature fashion statement for Digimon MCs. At least they kinda had a purpose in Tamers (although it wasn't explained very well).

Go Ahead! - Veemon (Listen here & Translation here)

Veemon's song is very in-sync with Daisuke. Just talking about having courage and rushing into battle without thought (because your squad will back you up and everything will work out! LEEEEROYYYY JENKINSSSSS)

2-Top - Daisuke & Veemon duet (Listen here & Translation here)

Okay, this was definitely the strongest song on this CD. It's catchy, the boys sound great together and the whole thing's a soccer metaphor which is very on brand. (I tried to google and see if "2-Top" is soccer terminology and came up with nothing tho -shrug-)

I like the little banter breaks in this and then in the song they talk about how their bickering just shows how energetic they are haha.

They mention being a digimon tamer in this song but did they even use that terminology in 02? I don't remember...

Miyako & Hawkmon

Crash with Bingo - Miyako (Listen here - subbed)

The lyrics of this song are pretty nonsensical, but I get what vibe they were going for. She's basically singing about being a hot mess but being proud to be herself. Also mentions that she's not just here to look cute.

I feel pretty neutral about Miyako, but I did appreciate that she could be kinda tactless and brash at times. Traditional Japanese femininity usually means being quiet, submissive and agreeable, which she definitely is not.

Although I've never liked the "bingo" catchphrase, it's fun in a song lol

Knight of Love - Hawkmon (Listen here - subbed)

Man, out of all the digimon partners, Hawkmon's gotta be the biggest nothing burger of them all. I couldn't tell you a single thing about the dude. I feel like the bird digimon are the most sidelined for some reason? (Maybe they're like "little boys don't care about birds, they like dinosaurs and bugs!")

Hawkmon sings about being a "knight of love," but I never got "knight" vibes from him really. I guess he kinda talks like a knight, but nothing in his design says knight...he's supposed to look like an Indigenous person, no? Maybe I'm being to literal hahaha

Fly High - Miyako & Hawkmon duet (Listen here - subbed)

Yeah, I don't really buy Miyako and Hawkmon's partner chemistry. They sounds more like coworkers lol. I did like the part where Miyako was asking to talk to all of Hawkmon's digivolutions in quick succession, that was fun.

Miyako's just spiraling the whole song and Hawkmon's trying to comfort her but she seems to be kinda brushing him off for most of it haha

Iori & Armadimon

My Conclusion - Iori (Listen here - subbed)

This song was...not good. Not the worst of the bunch, but it kinda just felt like it had no melody and Iori was talk-singing the whole time. His voice is cute and the lyrics fit his character nicely, but I was thrown off by how janky the song itself sounds.

The song is about Iori's convictions and what evil vs. justice means to him. You can sense that his philosophy is coming from his kendo practice.

I enjoyed the gratuitous English in the final line lol

Omyaa to Let's Go! - Armadimon (Listen here - subbed)

This one had a good energy and I liked the "Let's go!" chorus, but there was still a lot of talk-singing going on

I hate that the song starts by mentioning that damn Chuu x2 Jelly...it's like the show forgot to give Armadimon any memorable qualities so when they wrote this song they were like "he liked jelly...I guess?"

Armadimon losing steam and kinda flubbing the lyrics was the best part of the song lol

A Message to the Future - Iori & Armadimon duet (Listen here - subbed)

Phew, finally a good one. I was a bit worried I'd dislike this whole album. I really liked the melancholy yet optimistic vibe this one had. It kinda feels like any two characters could have sung this, but oh well. It was a nice duet regardless.

Armadimon telling Iori that "no matter what kind of adult you become, you'll always be Iori" was sweet :)

Takeru & Patamon

Focus - Takeru (Listen here - subbed)

Okay this one made me MAD because it was so ship-baity!! What the heckk??? This song is clearly implying that Takeru has romantic feelings for Hikari ("Am I the focus of your heart?"), but the show led me to believe that his feelings were platonic and almost brotherly. Did I watch the same show as the song writer? I don't mind them as a pairing, but I feel like this is contradicting my interpretation of the anime so I'm just confused.

Aside from my grumblings, I think this song was great for the drama of it all lol. I also liked the callbacks to Hikari and Takeru growing up together and Hikari blossoming into a powerful young hero.

The comment section of the YouTube video I've linked have people arguing whether the song is about Hikari or Patamon lol. Ain't no way this song is about Patamon. There's even a hikari pun in there.

Don't Stop Patapata - Patamon (Listen here - subbed)

Not sure if this is cute...or just annoying. Sounds like a song written and performed by a toddler, which is fitting cuz it's Patamon.

This song captures Patamon's one braincell energy (which was on display in the new 02 movie). He doesn't really sing about Takeru much which feels a bit like a wasted opportunity.

Steppin' Out - Takeru & Patamon duet (Listen here - subbed)

I liked the theme and lyrics of this one but the vocals were pretty rough...It sounded like Patamon's VA didn't match Takeru's VA's energy very well and together they sound kind of off key.

Takeru singing about taking off his ripped shirt kinda made me laugh because I pictured like a sexy romance novel cover dude. So not Takeru's image.

Seriously Patamon just kinda sounds disinterested in this song

Hikari & Tailmon

Gentle Rain - Hikari (Listen here - subbed)

Kind of a boring, slow song, but I liked the overall theme. Hikari's showing her vulnerable side and talking about how she can't be strong/brave at all times.

I'm not sure I really understand the rain metaphor here...I think maybe when she's saying it's not an "intense rain" she's saying it will take a long time for her weakness to wash away, but that's okay? IDK, kinda clunky.

Getting up - Tailmon (Listen here & Translation here)

Pretty similar to Hikari's song, but more melancholy. I found this one kind of relatable because I can get existential pretty often. The lines "What can I do? I still don't know. Because I was born my journey continues" hit me.

Tailmon sings about, basically, how life as a digimon is tough and confusing, with all of the nonstop battling. Still, she wants to stay strong for those she needs to protect. (Tailmon kinda has similar vibes to Renamon...or maybe it's just that they both have deep voices.)

Shining Star - Hikari and Tailmon (Listen here - subbed)

This one felt kinda half-assed lol. I think I might just be getting burnt out with all these songs that effectively have the same message.

So yeah, just like a lot of other songs in previous albums, this was a generic song about Hikari and Tailmon being different but loving each other anyway and striving to be their best for each other. I guess it's nice to hear a more optimistic song at the end of the album since the first two were pretty downbeat.

Ken & Wormmon

ONLY ONE - Ken (Listen here - subbed)

Aw man, I'm disappointed that Ken's solo song is from the POV of his Kaiser days :/ oh well. It's still a fun song. I like his evil laugh at the end.

I think this song does a good job of illustrating Ken's internal struggle between good and evil, but always turning to the darkness in the end. I also enjoyed the rock n' roll vocals.

The Future You Dreamed of, The Future I Dreamed of - Wormmon (Listen here - subbed)

Lol Wormmon's such a simp for Ken, but I love him so much 😭❤️ This song was great!! The jazzy instrumentals, the back up vocals and the passion/love in Wormmon's voice were all on point.

This song is all about Wormmon not giving up on Ken and understanding he has good in him that he wants to protect. So pure and sweet <3

True Strength - Ken & Wormmon (Listen here - subtitled)

Omg I loved this one 😭😭😭 so precious! Sure, it may have the exact same theme as a bunch of other songs ("we're so different, but we love each other!") but it definitely has a greater impact considering Ken and Wormmon's baggage.

I loved the light and jazz vibe of this song, I was picturing Ken and Wormmon in tuxedos with tails doing a lil tap dance routine together.

"Your form reflected my heart" omg 😭😭😭

Ken had a whole mini arc in just this album lol

#digimon #digimon adventure 02 #image songs #image song #music

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bobgoesw00t · 6 months

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I have two things to say about the opening to Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning.

I’ve already mentioned the first thing about how if looks could kill, Wormmon would be a murderer…here’s the proof:

Secondly, I want to point out the different shades Daisuke owns:

Not only does he have the round ones we first saw in Last Evolution Kizuna, BUT HE ALSO HAS STAR SHAPED, AND A CIRCLE AND SQUARE PAIR…WHY THE FUCK DOES HE HAVE THE LATTER!?!?!? I know he’s still a dork (which is evident if you watch the intro, which I’ll post the link to), but I think that’s a BIT MUCH DAISUKE!

On a side note, love how he’s kept the goggles Taichi gave him all those years ago!!!

#digimon #digimon adventure 02 #digimon adventure 02 the beginning #wormmon #daisuke motomiya #motomiya daisuke #he’s a dork #he’s adorkable

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beginningobserver · 3 months

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TTRPG with 02 Kiddos ft Rui-kun

[AO3 Version]

• Canon compliant (KenMiya/Kenyako) + 02 group and Rui-kun (also includes DaiLui) • Comedy; Teen/Adult audiences.

Story: Takeru liked to read storybooks as a kid. He really enjoyed those stories from different places and cultures, myths and folktales. It’s not a surprise he was aiming to be a professional writer, and it was also working on his childhood memories alongside the digimon and the Chosen Children. It’s also not a big surprise that he would find fun in writing TTRPG sessions with friends -- yes, Hikari, Iori, Daisuke, Ken and Miyako. But this time he prepared something extra fun for their new friend, Rui.

-------------------//-------------------

The group of fearless warriors kept walking through the forest looking for the great evil who is trying to destroy their world and kingdom. In this group they had…

“Hey, Takeru quit narrating everything and hurry up! The kingdom won’t be saved if you keep doing monologues!!”

“Ah… But you see, I’m--”

“He’s right,” V-mon pouted, “Don’t you want to save the kingdom ruled by our king!?”

“Who was the king again…?” Patamon blinked.

“YOU FORGOT WHO’S OUR KING!?” Daisuke and V-mon gasped dramatically.

“... Did we mention a king before?”

“It’s Taichi-san,” Takeru explained, “Since he’s working in a Digital World-related department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs… Makes sense for him to be a king, right?”

“True,” Patamon nodded sagely.

“Y’ALL ARE WASTING OUR TIME!!” Daisuke interrupted them again, “Taichi-san will be mad if we don’t beat the great evil!”

“Huh, what’s ‘the great evil’ again?” Miyako popped in.

“The great evil, Ow the Edge. ”

“What?” Iori squinted his eyes, “I thought you would put Ichijouji-san as the enemy.”

“Excuse me…?” Ken looked at them, frowning, “My days of villainy have ended a long time ago, I don’t want to be the bad guy anymore.”

“Besides, I don’t want to date the villain!” Miyako pouted, “Unless you want an evil couple.”

“Here she goes, talking about her relationship status again,” Daisuke muttered in a growl. He hated the fact he’s still unable to confess his feelings for Hikari.

“What did you say, Dai-su-ke?” Miyako grabbed her guitar in hands, ready to smash it into Daisuke’s head.

“N-nothing??!” He babbled, wavering.

“I think we’re going off-topic,” Tailmon interrupted them, unamused.

“Who’s Ow the Edge, Takeru-san?”

“Ow the Edge…” Daisuke squinted, “Ain’t you making fun of Sh※d※w the H※dg※h※g, are ya!?”

“No, it’s definitely not related to Sh※d※w the H※dg※h※g. It’s just Ow the Edge.”

Daisuke’s brain couldn’t tell if Takeru was trolling them or being serious.

“Anyway, Ow the Edge is the evil guy and we’re going to beat him right now.”

“Wait a second,” They all looked at the seventh human there on the table, Rui.

“What is it, Rui-kun?” Hikari asked.

“I… I don’t understand why Takaishi-kun gave me this paper and told me to memorize it…”

“Oh I just made up something for you, to read. Don’t worry~”

Daisuke whispered to Rui, “When he says that, get ready for something terrible happening to your character. Trust me and Ken, we’re his favorite victims.”

Ken nodded in silence, agreeing with Daisuke. Rui was still not sure what that meant though….

“Where were we again?” Takeru said, then he cleaned his throat and proceeded with the story.

The group had the most loyal knight of the kingdom in the lead who wielded a glaive, a magician and a bard couple (the bard girl had an axe which was also her guitar, the magician boy a twin spear with the ability to turn enemies into allies when touched by its edges), a duo of archers wielding crossbows and a swordsman (the youngest of them!)

They were going into the Forbidden Forest and--

“One question,” Wormmon stopped the group, “Why is it forbidden?”

“You see, little familiar, the forest is forbidden because it’s off the kingdom’s domains.”

“So we would be violating by trespassing, am I correct?” Iori deadpanned.

“But we’re six people and six digimon,” Armadimon added, “To not be trespassing we should just let two people pass.”

“... Makes sense” Daisuke and V-mon mused.

“No, it makes no sense at all,” Ken sighed.

“Can you please let Takeru continue?” Tailmon stared at them.

“Ahem,” Takeru cleaned his throat again,

They were going into the Forbidden Forest and suddenly… It started raining. Then, the knight said…

“Alright, leave it to me, I’m a master of the lightning spells!”

“Is he really the right person for that?” Miyako whispered to Takeru, “Letting Daisuke play with fire is not a smart idea…”

“HEY, I have the Digimentals of Courage and Friendship!” Daisuke snapped, “It’s obvious I’d be experienced in fire and lightning magic!”

“True,” V-mon nodded, “It’s not like Daisuke had exploded things while cooking!”

“Yeah it’s not-- HEY!!” Daisuke stared at V-mon, angrily.

“I think I should use the power of my Digimental” Iori looked at his sword, “Why would we need The Digimental of Friendship if there’s no Lightnin--”

A strong lightning crashed into their direction, but the knight’s Lighdra-glaive’s spells protected the group.

“... Nevermind,” Iori blinked.

“Are you okay, Miyako-san?” Ken asked Miyako, who he was shielding with his own body.

“Y-yeah… I am, thank you Ichijouji-kun” she answered with a smile.

“Miyako-san…”

“Ichijouji-kun…”

They were going to kiss, but--

“STOP FLIRTING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RAIN!!” Daisuke shouted, “I’M NOT A WALKING UMBRELLA FOR THAT!!”

“But you’re protecting us from the lightning, not from the rain,” Hawkmon corrected him.

“It’s Iori who is protecting us from the rain” Tailmon gestured to the boy using the Submari-Sword to keep them dry.

“But we’re not like third wheels for their romance!” Daisuke pouted.

“We’re six digimon and six humans, so we would’ve been the third, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten wheels” V-mon said as he counted in his fingers.

“I don’t mean it literally!! ”

“Oh…”

“I don’t mind that,” Iori said, then he and the group kept walking in the rain, but the sword was generating a force field protecting them from the water.

“Fine, fine… But stop flirting while we’re working!” Daisuke growled, and then kept using his glaive to control the lightning away from them.

“But…” Rui interrupted them again,

“Was it, Rui?” V-mon asked this time.

“Wouldn't it be more effective if they could seek a place to stay and wait for the rain to stop?”

They looked at each other and then to Rui…

“Are you criticizing Takeru’s story?” Patamon stared at Rui.

“Uh…”

“ANYWAY!!” Takeru said quickly, before they could get into a fight.

The group kept going through the dense and eerie Forbidden Forest,

“Why is it raining here though?” Wormmon asked, still on Ken’s back.

“Because of a spell casted by Ow the Edge” Takeru explained, “Human beings are not allowed in his territory.”

“Well, we should be closer!” Daisuke seemed fired up, then he pointed at the lair in the horizon, “THERE IT IS, THE… THE…”

The Lair of the Great Evil -- The LOGE.

“The Loge?” Hikari tilted her head.

“Are we going to a theater then?” Miyako blinked.

“No, the LOGE, not loge” Takeru corrected them, “It's an abbreviation of the ‘Lair of the Great Evil’.”

“Shouldn’t it be ‘LOTGE’ then?” Ken asked, unfazed.

“Lodge?” Daisuke frowned.

“No, it’s LOGE, we shouldn’t count ‘the’ there!” Patamon snapped.

“Why would you name it with a HARD abbreviation like that!?” V-mon complained.

“Oh I like to see your reactions” Takeru smiled.

“WHAT!?”

While the knight, the magician and the aspiring writer who’s also an archer were in a heated discussion about the lair’s name and abbreviation…

“...”

The mysterious and nefarious Ow the Edge appeared in front of them!!

“...”

“...?” Rui looked at Takeru on the table, confused.

“Ahem, Rui-kun it’s your turn.”

“Huh…?”

“The paper I gave you, it’s your character” Takeru gestured to the paper in front of Rui on the table.

“O-oh…”

“Wait,” Daisuke squinted his eyes at Takeru again, “Don’t tell me you…”

Like, I said… The mysterious and nefarious Ow the Edge appeared in front of them!!

“Oh ho ho ho… I’m Ow the Edge, the villain of this game…” Rui was… reading the paper normally?!

“Ow the Edge is Rui-kun??” Miyako exclaimed in confusion.

“Well… I’m--”

“You’re not taking it seriously enough…” Takeru sighed.

“Not enough…?”

“No offense but you’re reading and not acting, dagya.”

“Uh…”

“Yeah, you have to put some feelings on it!!” Patamon added.

“Hey guys, we shouldn’t go too harsh on Rui” Daisuke argued, “He’s still learning how to play!”

“True, I hate doing this but… Takeru-kun, can I simply give him an example?” Ken asked, politely and gently.

“Sure, you’re like a pro!” Takeru chuckled.

“Are you plannin’ to…” Daisuke raised an eyebrow.

Ken cleaned his throat and then…

“Huhu…HAHAHAHAHA, I’m the Digimon Kaiser, the one who controls the power of the darkness! I will dominate the Digital World and make you all OBEY me. CHERISH me. And LOVE me. Say, you dare to face me? HAH! Pathetic human beings, I’M THE PERFECT CHOSEN ONE! And ONLY ME can come here and PLAY this game!”

“Yeah, he just got overboard again…” Daisuke shrugged.

“Is he okay?” Rui was petrified by that 180º flip while the rest of the group was shaking their heads.

“Yeah, he got a little rusty since it had been like, 10 years since he was some edgelord throwing tantrums in the Digital World…” V-mon shrugged.

“Oh, that’s why Takaishi-kun said ‘like a pro’ when he asked permission to give an example…”

“R-rusty…??” Wormmon and Ken said, intrigued.

“I guess you unlearned how to be an edgelord, Ken…” Tailmon commented, shaking her head.

“I’m rusty…” Ken repeated it, quite disappointedly…

“Didn’t the Kaiser say ‘insects’ all the time?” Patamon mused.

“And he also used a whip,” V-mon added.

“He still uses the whip,” Wormmon and Hawkmon said out of the blue.

“Huh?” the others blinked. Ken and Miyako blushed awkwardly though.

“Are you sure this is the right hour to Talk about--” Daisuke squinted his eyes once again, this time at Ken, Wormmon, Miyako and Hawkmon.

“OKAY RUI-KUN” Takeru interrupted them quickly, “YOU GOT YOUR CLASS OF ACTING SO GO AND UNLEASH THE EVIL IN YOU!!”

“A-alright… I guess I can try again” Rui nodded.

Then, Ow the Edge appeared in front of them, laughing maniacally and stomping his cane-staff on the ground!

“...OHOHOHO! I’m Ow the Edge, the great evil of the world! You peasants are stepping on my yard and you will regret it.”

He looked at Takeru, “Is it better…?”

“Yeah, a little better 👌” Takeru smiled.

“I’m rusty…” Ken was still sulking in the corner.

The warriors wielded their weapons, ready for an imminent clash--

“Hold on, I don’t think it’s right to fight him,” Daisuke interrupted them all.

“? Why not?” Hawkmon asked, “Isn’t he the source of all evil?”

“No, I’m the great evil, not the source of all evil” Rui said, deadpanned.

“Isn’t that the same thing!?” Patamon babbled.

“No?”

“I mean we can’t fight Rui, he’s our friend!” Daisuke argued back, “I can’t believe you did that to him, Takeru!”

“Daisuke, you're taking it too seriously now” Takeru chuckled nervously.

“No, you were just--”

“Or are you afraid of fighting me, Daisuke-kun?” Rui said it in a very seductive way with a smug smile.

“I… I don’t want to fight you, that’s all” Daisuke blushed and turned his face.

“Ok, I think he really got the spirit, dagya” Armadimon commented with the others, perplexed.

“Why not? You fought Ichijouji-kun in the past, didn’t you?” he scoffed.

“Yeah, but Ken was not our friend back in time!” Daisuke snorted, “So no, cut it out. I refuse to fight you!!”

“I guess you don’t care about your pathetic kingdom then,” Rui shrugged, “I’m the great evil, will you let your people perish only to spare me?”

“I’ll save you too then!” Daisuke stomped his foot on the floor.

“Where did I see this scene before…” Tailmon mused.

“Uh… It was when you confronted Ken-chan, I guess” Wormmon replied.

“So, will you accept defeat, Daisuke-kun?”

“No, I won’t!” Daisuke snapped, cupping Rui’s face “I will come after you no matter what you say, no matter what Takeru makes you do! You’re MY friend and I refuse to fight you!!”

“... W-what??” Rui blushed.

“HOLD ON!!” Miyako shouted, and interrupted their game.

“Daisuke, what’s wrong with you?” She looked at Daisuke, seriously, “This is just a game, a harmless game, no one is going to fight for real here!!”

“But I.. I… * ahem * I was also acting, yeah… Uh… yeah,” he immediately took his hands off Rui’s face, babbling.

Though Rui was… also blushing awkwardly.

“I guess someone is not into Hikari anymo--” V-mon had Daisuke covering his mouth again.

“Uh, what?” Hikari blinked.

“DON’T LISTEN TO V-MON HE’S… HE’S TOO TIRED FROM THE GAME, SO UH… I LEFT MY RAMEN ON THE STOVE, BYE!!” and he left the table, carrying V-mon.

“... Did I do something wrong?” Rui frowned.

“No, you just managed to beat Daisuke-kun without fighting him,” Takeru said awkwardly, “Don’t take it seriously.”

“Oh… Okay…?”

With the knight and his familiar out of the battle, Ow the Edge smirks and turns into the rest of the group and says:

“One down, Five left.”

“HOW CRUEL!!” Hikari screams, “HE WAS WILLING TO HELP YOU!”

“... You can touch me, really. I’m untouchable.”

“What do you mean?” Iori raised an eyebrow.

“... I’m cursed, remember? Great evil… We need an excuse for Daisuke-kun’s absence, sorry.”

“Ooh…” Armadimon exclaimed, “That’s clever.”

“We shouldn’t touch him then!” Hawkmon nodded.

“Alright,” Takeru said with a serious gaze, “if Daisuke is not here, the second-in-command is Ken-kun so--”

“... I’m rusty.”

Everyone looked at Ken, who was still sulking like a kid in the corner.

“Ichijouji-kun?” Miyako blinked, “What’s wrong?”

“You guys said I’m rusty… I don’t like to be the Digimon Kaiser anymore, but it’s still part of me… I created him and now I’m… I’m unable to be him even for a simple TTRPG sample!!”

“Y-you’re upset that you can’t do the Digimon Kaiser anymore!?” the five babbled, intrigued.

“... 💧” Rui blinked, still not sure what was going on.

“I guess we accidentally beat Ken,” Patamon shook his head.

“Two down…?” and yet Rui is still confused about this entire game.

“I think I need a break” Ken sighed, and then he and Wormmon left the table.

“Ah, wait…!” Miyako called him, but then she turned to the rest of the group, “I will calm him down and we will be back! Let’s go, Hawkmon!”

“Right, Miyako-san!”

Then Miyako and Hawkmon went after Ken and Wormmon. Rui frowned, he was thinking maybe he was just really bad at playing tabletop games…

Takeru sighed, “Well, I guess it’s only the four of us now… And our digimon partners, of course.”

“If you… want to stop I’m okay with it” Rui was feeling very awkward right now.

“Are you guys still up to it?”

“I’m curious about how it will end,” Iori mused.

“I don’t mind continuing it…” Hikari added.

“They might come back, didn’t they say it?” Armadimon asked, looking at the entrance of the apartment.

“Hmm… We’re at Daisuke’s house, so it would be odd if he just left” Tailmon replied with a shrug.

“I wonder where he went…” Patamon said, looking at Takeru.

“...”

With the couple down, our brave group was reduced into three members and their familiars. The heavy atmosphere of the heated battle against Ow the Edge and our heroes intensified second by second.

“I guess you can’t beat me.”

Said the great evil with a shrug. His cocky attitude and malicious grin were making the last hope of the Kingdom weaver, but FEAR NOT! The good guys had a trump card in their hands.

“Trump card??” Rui, Hikari, Iori and the digimon exclaimed, confused.

“Oh trust me, being an amateur writer means I need to make the story a little exciting.”

“But what’s that trump card, dagya?”

“It’s a secret.”

“WHAT!?”

“What does it supposed to mean!?” Hikari and Iori exclaimed.

“So… To be sure,” Rui approached them, “What happens if I beat you three? Do I win?”

“Technically yes,” Iori explained, “But this is an ongoing game, we have sessions and turns, so you could say you would win a turn or session.”

“The others can come back, can’t they?” He was worried about Daisuke and Ken’s reactions to that game though…

“Yup,” Patamon nodded, “They’re not dead in this game, unless the Game Master kicks them off the game.”

“Oh… So I didn’t kill them in-game…” he sighed in relief.

“Yeah, but don’t worry about that!” Tailmon smiled, “Takeru will find a way to add them again once they’re back.”

“But what is that trump card, dagya??” Armadimon pouted.

“It’s…”

“It’s…?”

“...”

“...?”

The aspiring writer and archer then summoned… A jar of sugar.

“A JAR OF SUGAR!?” Hikari exclaimed.

“Isn’t Rui-san…” Iori looked at Rui.

“Uh… Am I supposed to… do some dramatic reaction at the fact he got a jar of sugar?”

“Wait, I thought you hated sweets,” Patamon blinked.

“Yes, I do.. So… Uh… * ahem *”

“NO, MY ONLY WEAKNESS…!! SUGAR!!” He dramatically knelt on the floor, using the cane as support, “I’M DYING… NOOOO!!”

“We haven't used it yet” Takeru looked at him, deadpanned.

“Oh… Ok.”

The aspiring writer and archer then showed the jar to Ow the Edge, and with a firm tone of voice he threatened:

“We will end your days of evil with the HolyAngemon Sugar Brand! UNLESS!!”

“Wait, are you sparing me too??”

“No, I’m proposing a deal!”

“Ah, I see… You want something in return…”

“We won’t use the sugar if you stop threatening the kingdom,” Iori explained.

“Hmm…”

“You will undo the evil deeds you caused to us,” Patamon added.

“What evil deeds…?” Rui then took the paper and started checking the text, “Uhh… Fine, fine.”

“And you will turn all the sweets you turned into dust back to normal, dagya!”

“Wait… Did I go this far before…? 💧”

“No, Armadimon is just doing an ad-lib right now,” Tailmon shrugged.

“I suppose it’s because you don’t like sweets,” Hikari added, “You would turn them into dust.”

“... I might not like sweets but I have no problem with them,” Rui shrugged, “It’s just… I don’t like it that much…”

“Oh… I’m sorry” Armadimon bowed his head awkwardly.

“It’s okay, no hard feelings.”

And then the warriors stopped the great evil and everyone lived happily after.

“So we--”

“AH CRAP, I REALLY OVERCOOKED IT!!” They heard Daisuke’s voice from the kitchen.

“Daisuke, are you okay--” Takeru said and he and the others ran to the kitchen.

“Noooooooo… MY RAMEN!!” he dramatically cried.

“He really left his ramen on the stove…” Patamon commented.

“You thought we were joking!?” V-mon snapped, “It was our dinner!! For the night of games!!”

“Oh… Oh no” Armadimon sniffed, “Our dinner…”

“It’s okay everyone!!” They heard Miyako’s voice from the entrance of the apartment, “Our girl Miyako and her boyfriend had brought some dinner for us all!!”

“Miyako and Ken saved our dinner, dagya!!” Armadimon chirped.

“Hmm… Yeah, maybe we can eat ramen another day” Daisuke smiled, "Alright folks! Let’s clean the table and eat!”

“Alright!!” They all said together.

#digimon adventure 02 the beginning #motomiya daisuke #ohwada lui #ichijouji ken #inoue miyako #hida iori #takaishi takeru #yagami hikari #kenmiya #kenyako #dailui

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variouscolors · 2 months

Text

Some extra deets about Lightni verses:

Something something, might be just me re-phrasing or developing more this previous post about him and the verses.

We know Daisuke wouldn't be a "competitor" for the Kaiser shenanigans, and according to "Goggles" track from Spring 2003 CD Drama his motivation to want strength (not power) is because he was a victim from Vamdemon's invasion on Aug 3 1999. Also in the same track, he mentions having witnessed Taichi and the others, which led him to want to be strong like them.

If you alter a bit of those details, like, Daisuke not remembering well those events (02 era Daisuke says in the track he didn't remember well, though) you can play with Daisuke's lack of assertiveness and make him let the others convince him it was actually a movie or even a terrorism event, nothing related to real "monsters", and he would just accept it.

Also, you would just have to change how he got the digivice, since in canon he got it at the same time as Miyako and Iori. I think this is important, because if you decide to keep him in the same school as the other four, he would have to not be buddies with Hikari and Taichi, and let him receive his digivice before or after Miya-Iori.

Considering the fact Daisuke is pragmatic, i don't think he would be using the DW as a stress-relief game like Ken, so i imagine he would just do it to distract himself, and possibly not even trying to get involved with the Kaiser vs Chosen shenanigans. So my approach was that he went exploring it like a normal game and then met my favorite digi-secondary characters in-series: ep 36-37 Digitamamon and Bakumon and befriend them (besides V-mon yeah)

My idea was also swapping the Digimental of Courage and Friendship in the order he receives them -- so V-mon is sealed inside the Digimental of Friendship instead... Ok, it's because i think the Courage one would be better for a later plot and because without remembering Taichi in the Odaiba Fog events i don't think he would be courageous enough to lift it. And since my theory for ep 11 is that he had to learn to trust everyone in-group including their digimon, if he's starting as trusting the digimon... He could definitely lift the Digimental of Friendship!

Also, since this idea is versatile to whoever is the Kaiser (or an equivalent villain AU), Daisuke's persona for this AU is because of the digimon not trusting any human outside Taichi's group. So yeah, Daisuke's persona here is he just disguising as digimon to keep in touch with his digi-friends :V

Also, on another note, him not being able to believe the Digital World is a real parallel world next to the human world is because he was convinced his witness of the monsters in Odaiba were not real, and that it was a weird dream. Which means it makes it interesting when he starts to realize the digimon are alive and that the Digital World is not a game!

But okay, how does Daisuke get involved with [character] Kaiser(in)? Well, since he's a coward he definitely begs the villain to spare him, V-mon, Digitamamon and Bakumon from getting brainwashed-or-captured. The villain does not know Daisuke well enough to spot any Daisuke-ness in his quirks, and Lightni is seen as a digimon so... A digimon begging for mercy?? Yeah.

But also the Chosen are not that close to Daisuke too, so they don't imagine he's involved with their enemy. And when everyone discovers it... Well, he's not assertive enough to confront them either.

I don't think you need to give him a Dark Seed, considering he's pretty much calling for attention and wanting validation, plus he's naive if you push the right buttons you can exploit that~

And since the [character] Kaiser(in) might be his first and only human friend, he might be willing to keep helping them, or maybe pulling a Wormmon later and beg the 02 group to save his friend from destroying themselves.

The Digimental of Courage could get a play around this part too, when he finally gains courage to stand up against his friend and face them.

Idk if you need Magnamon here, but maybe you could give the Digimental of Miracles to whoever is serving as Daisuke's role in replacement here. Unless you come up with a reason for Daisuke to get the Digimental here too...? If the villain is not Ken, maybe leave it to Ken!!

Idk much more past Kaiser arc-section, but i think it could run similar to the rest of 02, except Daisuke being in Ken's position and if the Kaiser is not Ken, having Ken being the one trying to reach him out to unlock Paildramon + Imperialdramon. As for the Dark Seed it could still take a place in it, possibly with whoever was the Kaiser (or Ken himself).

Update [March/12]:

Since he was convinced by everyone else that the digimon events from Aug 1-3 1999 weren't real, he didn't meet Taichi until 2002.

Also, he never was Hikari's classmate until 2002, so he didn't develop a huge crush on her.

Since no "person with goggles" memories (he probably saw Taichi, explained in the first bullet here), he does need goggles at all! Though, he could get the goggles later.

And since he does not wear Taichi's goggles, this means Taichi still has them. And later he will pass it to Daisuke after realizing this kid needs a little push to be more assertive.

His hair is also... a little different from canon Daisuke. I made this because i wanted to give a little difference from canon to AU (plus his outfit is also... a little different from canon too!!)

Despite being working to the [Character] Kaiser(in)/Villain, he's still the same -- a strong sense of justice and wanting to do the right thing. EXCEPT... He's a scaredy-cat. Yeah, he never got that push the canon Daisuke had from Taichi.

The reason he's sticking with the Kaiser(in) is because it's his first human friend, but he considers V-mon, Digitamamon and Bakumon his digi-friends (even if he believes they're just NPCs in a game).

The only bad thing in him is that he likes to do food experiments like a mad scientist. And this could end bad sometimes.

#chef lightni; knight who only works to cook #lightni; kaiser henchman #lightni's memories; lore

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ladyofthecastleproject · 9 months

Text

Doubts of the Heart

[AO3 version]

Summary:

The 02 group + Mimi, Palmon & Gummymon finally discover why Daisuke was acting alone this whole time. Could the group help Daisuke beat some of his insecurities and doubts?

[Notes: It's 2008; it's bit of Daisuke angst...]

Ken sighed. He was in trouble all over again, no matter what he had done he couldn’t let Daisuke keep doing those all alone.

“So, I decided I will infiltrate in that castle again”

The moment Daisuke said this, he felt his heart skip a beat. Not only him but also everyone else.

“You shouldn’t go all alone.”

“Wallace is still there, right?” Gummymon asked, “Then I should go with you.”

“Did you forget they already know it’s you under that mask?” Iori argued. Calmly, but still assertively.

“I know, but… If we go there in numbers they will use you all against me.”

“So you think the best solution is walking into the enemy territory, knowing it will be easy for them to eliminate you knowing you’re Lightnimon?” Takeru added, calmly. He was trying to behave but deep down he felt a huge anxiety eating him alive.

“That’s… Better than letting anyone else get hurt, don’t you think!?”

“No, it’s not!” Hikari shouted.

“Daisuke, calm down. Calm down and think!” Miyako said, and that wording remembered them all but Ken and Gummymon about a discussion six years prior.

“... Sorry, I just don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me again.”

Was he talking about the previous events before they ended up in the Digital World, or… Wait, Ken totally felt he was also the culprit for something he forgot to apologize for perhaps? The time he had captured everyone but Daisuke, set a fake dangerous scenario for his friends who were his enemies back in time, and psychologically inflicted pain in Daisuke to the point Daisuke himself was trading his own life for the fake group of bakemons disguised as Daisuke’s friends.

“It’s okay,” Tailmon smiled, “We’re fine. And we’re strong, you don’t need to worry about us.”

Ken kept silent, but soon or later he would have to speak up.

“We’re a group” Hawkmon said, “And we will fight alongside you.”

“Why do you want to do this alone?” Palmon asked, frowning. Wormmon, Armadimon and Tailmon were also giving him a concerned look.

“Sorry I… Uh, it’s my fault again.”

“Daisuke I uh… I think I know what’s happening here” Ken said, still not looking at him “You’re still hurt by something more… profound I guess.”

“Huh?”

“That time I… toyed with your mind, and I…”

“Ken, that was six years ago and that’s not the cause of that! You didn’t hurt anyone that time! Except me, but I’m fine!”

“Then why are you… running away?” V-mon asked and sighed, “Sorry, but why are you so scared to tell them?”

“OK, I will talk about it!" He growled, “Listen carefully.”

That time when Ranamon attacked Miyako and Hikari-chan, I was brought to the Digital World. She said if I followed her, they would be freed. I know Miyako told me to NOT do that, but my body moved without my consent.

“OK, I followed you like you wanted. Now let Miyako and Hikari-chan alone!”

“Ohohoho, fine. They’re already free, but you…”

“What do you want with us!?” V-mon stared at her, just like Daisuke.

“You must be eliminated, but this is not my job hoho~”

“You can’t get rid of me that easily!” Daisuke gritted his teeth, “And really, why are you targeting me and my friends!?”

“Because of the Crest of Miracles, you dummy!” she pouted, was he that stupid!? But, judging by Daisuke’s face, he wasn’t aware of that at all “What, you’re its heir and don’t know?”

“I only had a Digimental once or twice, but that’s all! How can that be my crest!? Does a Crest of Miracles exist!?”

“I don’t remember Qinglongmon or Gennai mentioned it before…” V-mon commented.

“Bleh! You’re that clueless!? Oh boy, it will be easy to beat you!”

“Q-quit insulting me and tell us already!”

“Why? If you know, you will do what we don’t want you to” she shrugged. The nerve of that amphibian-like digimon…!

“V-mon. Get her, and make her talk.”

V-mon evolved to XV-mon and flew in her direction, only to be stopped by a laser coming from somewhere. Then, a shadow appeared in front of them, a humanoid digimon with long hair and a peculiar armor filled with eyes.

“What, who are you?!” Daisuke shouted, and XV-mon stopped in front of his partner.

“Me? I’m your nightmare” the mysterious digimon said, smoothly.

“I’ve beaten many nightmares like you before!!” and then the creepy digimon moved quickly, standing behind Daisuke.

“You’re serious, yet I can feel you’re afraid…”

“I’m n-not!”

“You’re afraid of being the cause of someone’s pain. You’re regretting not listening to someone’s advice.”

“I’m not!!” and he covered his ears, to not hear it.

“You feel happy and satisfied right now, but then why is there some doubt in your heart? Aren’t you happy?”

“STOP!” he shouted, and XV-mon tried to hit the armored digimon but the opponent was too fast and hit his digimon in the stomach.

“Is it because of putting them in danger at least once ?”

“I don’t believe you!” Daisuke kept shouting, he was trying his best to not listen to that enemy.

“L-leave Daisuke alone!” XV-mon roared, and tried to hit him again. But this digimon was too fast for his eyes, and got a kick in the gut “GAH!”

“Remember, Daisuke-kun. You put their lives in danger! And you’re putting them in danger again.”

Sadly I let him in. My heart sank and I felt empty inside. I have no idea what happened in the past to have caused me pain, or how I let him invade my heart… All I know is... I had this memory of something bad falling upon us before. Was it the Deltamon case or BlackWarGreymon? I can’t say…

“I’m… I’m sorry, okay? I thought I wasn’t risking anyone’s lives that time! I’m a fool!”

“Daisuke!! Don’t listen to hi-- UGH!” Every attempt to reach Daisuke out was interrupted by that digimon. While Ranamon was cheering in the background.

“Hoho, you think you can talk to your boy?” Ranamon said with a mocked tone, “Master Duskmon is known to invade the opponent’s mind and cause them pain.”

“Good.” Duskmon said, “Repent yourself. Your friends are already hurt, it’s your fault.”

“I’m…. I’m sorry!!”

“Daisuke, don’t--”

Suddenly, XV-mon and I saw Lekismon carrying Wallace in her arms. Then I heard something about the ‘heir of the Crest of Destiny’ and moments later…

“Well, we don’t need you to mess with our plans. Now, you will be…”

XV-mon managed to attack him, so Duskmon stepped back. I was still feeling dizzy and to be honest I don’t know how to say what happened next.

“Farewell. GEIST ABEND. ”

Then, we got hit by lasers fired from that spooky armor. But… Something happened and I can’t remember… A flash very quickly came and teleported us from a white space for a few seconds. I lost my goggles in the meantime, but when we returned…

… They all had disappeared already.

“What was that?” V-mon asked, he had devolved to child level in that short time “Daisuke, are you okay?!”

“Ugh… I’m… Uh, w-where’s that dude!?” Daisuke looked around, and then grabbed his goggles from the ground, which were left in the same place as well “I… V-mon I think I committed another mistake.”

“... ‘Another’? Daisuke, this is just one mistake, no one is hurt! You’re fine! Don’t worry!”

“They, they will come after them! It’s my fault!”

“You were brainwashed!?” V-mon said, “Everyone’s fine! Please calm down!”

“I did something terrible in the past! I… I should’ve been--”

“Daisuke!” V-mon yelled “No one is hurt! Easy, easy!”

“... I’m alive but they might think I’m dead…” I sat on the grass and kept having that emptiness inside my heart “They will tell everyone we’re dead and they will…”

“Stop right there!” V-mon yelled and stared at me, “We’re alive, and they know it! Now look at me, right in the eyes! This wasn’t real, you did not commit any mistake!”

“I… You’re right! I didn’t! But… They were attacked by my fault. So maybe we can… keep away from them, for a while.”

“W-what!?”

“... If Duskmon thinks I’m dead, then let it be! I will become another person! Or, another digimon! And fight against him and his servants for the sake of everyone!”

“You’re talking nonsense…”

“V-mon! Lend me your power, please! I want to do what’s right! I want… I want to fix my mistakes. I will do this, and then, when everyone’s gathered… We will take that creep down!”

I know, it was a bad idea but… Yeah, this is how I became Lightnimon in the first place.

“So you’re still under the effects of that spell?” Miyako frowned.

“Now I understand why Daisuke-kun was acting weird when he and V-mon found me” Mimi mused, “It wasn’t something he would do…”

“What’s that mistake you’re talking about!?” Takeru snapped, “You never hurt us, or put us in danger! That digimon, Duskmon, will pay for messing with your mind.”

“Takeru please no” Daisuke pleaded, “Maybe I’m still under those fabricated memories, or misremembering what happened before, but I don’t want to put you at risk!”

“... It’s okay” Ken interrupted everyone’s rambles, “Daisuke’s still under some spell and that’s why he feels like this. But why would you let it affect you? I doubt you're this weak to fall for this. You weren't affected by BelialVamdemon’s illusions before.”

“... I don’t know why, but… That day I was thinking how lucky I am to have you guys and suddenly I feared losing you all. I don’t overthink, but this time and with all those attacks happening to us… I’m sorry, I was weak.”

“Everyone fears losing someone important to you,” Iori said quietly, “Don’t be too harsh on yourself.”

“Yes,” Takeru and Ken agreed with a nod.

Mimi, Miyako and Hikari were in silence, until…

“That’s okay. Wallace also feels bad for losing Chocomon. But you all taught him to move on and have faith that one day Chocomon would come back.”

Gummymon broke the silence. They all looked at him, who was on Mimi’s lap.

“Gummymon’s right” Hawkmon said, “We’re not mad for you showing a bit of weakness, Daisuke-san. It could’ve happened to any of us I guess.”

“Right, but you’re back to us and we’re here to support you” Wormmon added with a nod, “and we’re the best form of making you remember what actually happened before.”

“We all were together on this, dagya. We’re your friends, we laugh when you’re happy and we cry if you’re sad.”

“Don��t worry about this, okay?” Patamon smiled, “We’re strong, so you don’t need to worry about us!”

“And you can count on us to help you anytime!” Palmon said, “I’m really thankful you helped Mimi, and even let us help you during this time.”

“Now that we know what was going on with you, we can find a way to help better” Tailmon finished.

“Y-you guys…” Daisuke was teary-eyed after hearing those words “Thank you.”

“And since Lekismon is our ally, we could plan how to save Wallace” V-mon looked at Daisuke, “But together.”

“How do we break the spell on Daisuke-kun?” Hikari asked, “While you think you’re weak, you have some resistance to it. I mean, you’re here instead of pretending to be a digimon…”

“You… You’re right…”

“Somehow, I think it’s partially broken,” Ken explained, “Hikari-san’s right about it, and it’s because deep down you trust us and then noticed this is an illogical fear.”

“... Alright, so… maybe if I tell y’all anything I believe to have happened you will debunk said events, right?”

“Bingo.” Miyako replied.

“So… Uhh… Deltamon case?”

“That was my fault, not yours,” Ken laughed nervously. Then said shamesly, “S-sorry.”

“Yeah, Ichijouji-san set us a trap” Iori recalled, “We all decided to go together. We got captured because we were caught off guard, not because of your decisions. And besides, we escaped in time and unmasked Ichijouji-san’s farce.”

“Oh right…” Daisuke nodded, “Then… BlackWarGreymon battles?”

“None of your fault as well” Takeru responded, “We were losing because we weren’t able to stop him, not because of your actions. Besides, it was your idea of moving the last Holy Stone to a safer place with our digivices that made Qinglongmon appear and stop his rampage.”

“Now I remember that… Um… February 2003? I remember I did something stupid…”

“Not your fault at all” V-mon said, “Pukumon and Boltmon were causing trouble, and the Daisuke Kaiser case was caused by Gomamon. And No one got hurt at all! It was thanks to you that we saved the day!”

“Hmm… March 2003?”

“That was my fault actually” Miyako sighed, “You only asked to open the gate for you and Ken-kun, but I messed this up and opened a ton of them. But… You quickly came with a backup plan and we managed to take control over the situation. Imperialdramon in a white armor wielding a sword saved everyone with theirs’ hopes fueled by your stubbornness.”

“Oh that’s right…!! And… Summer from that year?”

“Natchan wasn’t your fault at all” Gummymon raised his ear like a hand, “She was looking for a partner, thought you could be hers… But she couldn’t be yours. You calmed her down and we spent the rest of the day searching for a person to become her partner.”

“Yeah, I’m remembering now… Anything else?”

“Nothing that was your fault,” Hikari replied.

“Nothing?”

“Yeah, nothing of your concern” Takeru smiled.

“I see…”

“Actually I let you carry all my Christmas shopping” Ken laughed again, then he looked down, “I’m sorry…”

“See, none of those were your fault!” V-mon said with a smile, “So are you free from those doubts now?”

“I… I feel better…” his eyes, which were kinda dead until now, started to have highlights again. He smiled back at them all “Thank you everyone. I’m sorry for not letting you know what actually happened… And letting those thoughts corrupt me.”

“But one more question,” Ken stroked his chin, “Why would they capture this Wallace person?”

“Beats me” Daisuke shrugged, “Maybe because of some special power? I don’t understand what they meant at all...”

“... Take me to that castle” and Ken’s words made everyone stare at him in shock.

“W-what!?” Daisuke blinked, “You mean, you and me… Alone!?”

“That’s not good...” Gummymon said calmly.

“Listen, I’m Daisuke’s jogress partner and if we’re together we can use Imperialdramon. Which means we have more chances to get out quickly than dragging everyone with.”

“Ken-kun’s right,” Miyako said with a serious tone, “And I trust him and Daisuke. The rest of us could stay around and prevent the enemies from leaving the area to conquer the Digital World.”

“That’s a plan” Tailmon nodded, “We all agree with this, right?”

“Right!” the rest said.

#arc 5: hinode [concept]#digimon adventure 02 #motomiya daisuke #veemon

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detectiveichijouji · 2 months

Text

Case 33 - A Digi-Girls’ Battle

[AO3 version]

I’m always behind on everything. Hikari-chan can evolve Tailmon past Adult level without Jogress. She doesn’t need me…

The boys are always one step ahead of me too…

“School is starting soon… I don’t want to go to the third year!!” Daisuke shouted, whining. He was dramatically laying on the seat from the karaoke booth, “I’M NOT READY!!”

“Why are you making a fuss about it?” Ken complained, with a tired gaze, “We have more important problems than school grades.”

“You’re not worried at all!? This year we actually have to plan for AFTER high school!” Daisuke snapped, “IT’S! IT’S…!! COLLEGE!! THE FUTURE!! AND I’M STILL NOT SURE WHICH ONE I WANT TO ATTEND YET!!”

Tailmon commented with the others in the booth, “It’s strange seeing Daisuke, of all people, be concerned about his future.”

“True true,” they all replied with a nod.

“If I want to open my own ramen business I need to know what to do!! What if I skip college…?”

“You’re not planning to do that, are you?” Patamon asked.

“No, but… Uhh…”

“Daisuke-kun, you’re just starting the third year not becoming an adult…” Takeru tried to calm him down, with a pat on Daisuke’s head, “And most importantly, Ichijouji-kun is right about this not being a big deal right now.”

They all turned to Ken, who was also fussing with something else, except in silence.

“I know…” Daisuke frowned, “Ken is just…”

“... I’m thinking about how to end this already” Ken reiterated, “I can’t allow more people to be part of this game, or even… Let my stupid mistake as the Kaiser keep affecting other people and digimon.”

“You ok, Ken?” V-mon asked, frowning.

“Ken-chan is busy,” Wormmon replied quickly.

“Hey, you can share that burden with us” Miyako walked to Ken and put her hand on his, while he was holding the laptop’s mouse, “We’re here for you.”

“Miyako-san…” he blushed a bit when his eyes met hers.

“And we have Noel’s help too!” Daisuke added with a grin, “Noel can use his tricks and bang! Find them!

“... I don’t want to rely on him” Ken replied quickly, “Relying on a phantom thief…”

“Sometimes our allies come from unexpected places,” Takeru mused, “Like you”

“...”

“I agree,” Iori added, “And we can solve this main case quickly if we work together.”

“If Iori-kun says so…” Ken chuckled.

“I see someone smiling~” Daisuke teased him.

“Thanks, everyone” Ken’s tension has passed and he felt more relaxed on the seat.

They all giggled.

“With Dominimon’s help now we can beat stronger enemies!” V-mon looked at Armadimon and Patamon, “We wouldn’t need to worry about keeping Imperialdramon as our trump card.”

“V-mon,” Takeru interrupted him, “We need to keep Imperialdramon around, because they’re our strongest digimon evolution.”

“Huh, what do ya mean!?” Armadimon squinted his eyes, “Patamon and I are strong too, dagyaa!”

“Takeru-kun didn’t mean it as an insult,” Ken explained, “If you take a look closely at each Jogress evolution we have… Shakkoumon is our best defense, Imperialdramon is our best attacker, and Silphymon is our best support.”

“True,” Hikari agreed with a nod, and the others just watched Ken’s explanation in silence.

“So we should leave Dominimon to be our defense again,” Tailmon mused.

“...” But Miyako dropped her smile at that mention. She took her coat and Hawkmon, then walked to the entrance of the booth.

“Miyako?” Daisuke frowned, “Are you leaving right now?”

“Yeah, I promised to help at the store today… Sorry, I have to go now.”

Miyako leaves the booth with Hawkmon, and sighs. Back to the group, Hikari gets her coat and Tailmon.

Daisuke panicked, “Hikari-chan you too?!”

“I have to talk with Taichi about something, sorry.”

And she left as well.

“... You didn’t leave because of your siblings, right Miyako-san?” Hawkmon asked her, being clutched (gently this time) in her arms.

“No, I… It’s hard,” she frowned, “Iori and Takeru-kun got Shakkoumon to evolve, and I’m not sure if… If Hikari-chan and I can evolve Silphymon too.”

“Oh…”

“And besides, Hikari-chan can evolve Tailmon without our help too, so… I guess we should focus on something else, right…?”

Hawkmon felt something was odd, Miyako didn’t like to feel she’s a burden to the others. She always wanted to be useful for everyone, and that’s why she’s still focusing on helping Koushiro with Chosen Children-related projects, like maintaining the network or helping to develop a new app to connect with the digivices and phones.

She hadn’t thought about what to do for herself yet. She was thinking about the others first. And with this, she didn’t find what stuff she wanted to do now that she had graduated from High School.

I don’ t think I’m needed anymore…

Miyako wandered aimlessly until she witnessed Lune and Lunamon nearby. Hawkmon raised an eyebrow when he and Miyako saw the girl trying to hide from something or someone.

“What are they doing, Hawkmon?” Miyako asked.

“I have no idea…”

“Hurry up, Étoile…!!” Lune whispered to herself, “You have to answer my calls…!!”

“They’re getting closer…!!”

“Oh shoot! Let’s go Lunamon,” Then she and Lunamon kept running away.

Moments later, Miyako and Hawkmon saw Soleil and Flaremon a little lost, as if they were searching for something. The girl considered going to ask him what he and Flaremon were looking for when he received a message from Koushiro.

[A fragment has been detected, it’s near your current location.]

“Maybe they’re looking for the shard…” Hawkmon mused.

“Makes sense now!!”

“Miyako-san!!”

It was Hikari. But just as she was getting closer to Miyako and Hawkmon, Firamon and Soleil turned in their direction and attacked the girls. Hawkmon and Tailmon evolved immediately into Aquilamon and Angewomon, protecting them.

“W-what is your problem, you jerk!?” Miyako hissed.

“Wait, there’s something strange with them…!!” Angewomon blocked Flaremon’s fists with her bare hands.

“Huh?” Hikari frowned, and then her sixth sense felt something eerie coming from Soleil. She grabbed Miyako’s hand and dragged the girl with her, in silence.

Aquilamon then headbutted Flaremon, throwing him on the ground, and then the bird digimon attacked the ground, causing a thick cloud of dust to cover their strategic retreat.

“Why are we running away!?” Miyako asked, but Hikari was still guiding them all to a safer spot in the area. Once they stopped, Hikari took a breath before explaining her actions:

“I… I sensed something wrong with Soleil-kun.”

“What was it?”

“His mind was stolen.”

“Stolen?! H-how?!”

“It doesn’t matter now, we need to contact the others,” Hikari said, while watching their digimon regrouping with them.

“Right…” Miyako replied in a nod, and the girls grabbed their phones.

It was when Miss Espimon sent them a message:

[Chosen Children, please help us! A human turned into a Rafflesimon and is going on a rampage… making… making every boy in town into her pawn!! Noel is a digimon,[] so he escaped, but… Soleil got caught and Flaremon is acting weirdly too!]

“What the…” Miyako squinted her eyes, disgruntled, “what is this, a S※per S※ntai plotline now!?”

“... All boys in town huh…” Hikari mused.

“Noel is not human, so he’s safe,” Hawkmon mused, “But I wonder what she means by Flaremon acting weirdly…”

“Maybe… Something else is controlling the digimon?” Miyako mused.

“... Dracumon” Tailmon clenched her fist.

“... We should warn the boys,” Hikari said with a serious tone. Her grip on the phone was firm, and then she started pressing the buttons on her phone, writing a message.

Miyako nodded and dialed Ken’s phone number instead.

Lune was still trying to contact Noel, but no success. He didn’t answer her calls, and she was starting to believe he got hurt or even brainwashed as well. She spotted Daisuke and the boys came out of the karaoke bar, with the goggle boy looking completely upset with something…?

She approached them, for a second,

“Motomiya-kun, I need your help!! You can talk with Étoile right--”

But Lunamon got in front of her, with a serious gaze.

“Lunamon?”

“Don’t trust them!! They…”

Then, Daisuke (?) tried to catch Lune and Lunamon, but the digimon headbutted him and the others who tried to catch her partner.

“They were caught too!!” Lune gasped.

“Let’s get outta here, Mizuki!!”

“A-alright!!” and then they ran away again.

They are chased by the boys, until a blue hand and a yellow paw grab them and drag the girls into an alley. When Lunamon was about to snap, Patamon covered her mouth.

“Huh? Weren’t you too brainwashed…?” Lune asked, confused.

“No,” Wormmon said in a whisper to the group of digimon and Lune, “Something happened to them when they were inside the booth.”

“Something?”

“Yeah” V-mon shrugged, “A dude entered the booth with a… weird scale-petal-or-something.”

“And then that thing spread to our partners, dagya.”

“Ken noticed them and kicked us and Iori out of the booth in time!!” Patamon added, “But Iori got caught later by a strange girl with a fake shard.”

“...Kayono…” Lune clenched her firsts, “Is there anyone else that did not get caught besides you four?”

“We didn’t hear any news from Miyako or Hikari, dagya” Armadimon replied, “Maybe…”

Lunamon bit Patamon’s paw, angrily, “Aaaaah I’m tired of playing hide and seek!!”

“Aaa-aaah, my paw!!” Patamon cried, but not loudly to not catch attention from their human partners.

“Wait, we can deal with them” Lune glanced at the digimon, “But not Soleil, maybe if I get to work with Yagami-san and Inoue-san… ”

“What do you have in mind?” Wormmon asked, shyly.

“Ok, hear me out, Wormmon I need you to...”

The zombified-sorta 02 boys walked around, looking for Lune. Then, they spotted the girl at the entrance of the alley screaming: “MOTOMIYA-KUN AND BOYS, COME CATCH ME!! ~ ♡ ”

They ran into her direction, and she entered the alley… In which they were surprised by a sticky net falling upon them, dropped by their own digimon from the top of the building,

“MOON NIGHT BOMB!!” And then Lekismon dropped her sleeping bubble bombs on them.

They fell asleep and collapsed on the floor. Lekismon wiped her hands with a smug smile on her face.

“Right, now let me check your pocket, Motomiya-kun” Lune took Daisuke’s phone from his hoodie’s pocket to check the phone list when she noticed a new message in the inbox, “Oh? Well, this saves me time to contact them…”

She sent a message to Hikari’s number, then she tossed the phone to V-mon, who caught it. Lune then turned to the digimon quartet “Keep an eye on your boys. I have to get back my partner-in-crime now.”

“Oh yeah,” Lekismon cracked her knuckles, “Time to save those dumbasses from some awful b--”

Lune left the alley, screaming from the distance to Lekismon, “What are you doing?? Let’s go, Lekismon!!”

“D-DON’T LEAVE WITHOUT ME!!” Lekismon hissed, but followed Lune anyway.

The digimon looked at each other and shrugged.

“I got a message from Daisuke-kun’s phone but… It’s not him” Hikari said, looking at Miyako.

“Huh?” The other three blinked.

“It’s from Lune-san…” She explained, “They all were caught. Except for their digimon…”

“This is no good…” Miyako frowned, “If this Rafflesimon is stronger… We only have Silphymon and Lekismon to fight them…”

“We… We will manage to solve it!” Hikari said, trying to calm down Miyako, “Besides, Lune-san might know something…”

“Yes, we should not lose our hopes yet!” Hawkmon added with a smile.

“Hmm… What did she say, Hikari?” Tailmon asked.

“The message says to meet her at the ferris wheel area. She got something to ask us to do.”

“Hmm…”

“Uh, sir” the eyepatched Impmon asked, glancing at the masked person, “Why are we letting that chick run amok? And why are you targeting that girl with a Lunamon?” he pouted, “Rafflesimon probably got that detective brat you’re soooooo interested in!!”

“... Because she’s connected to Arsenemon, that’s why. I have to make that dirty digimon to pay for ruining my plans.”

“Yours…? I thought they were ‘ours’ -- Me and Naito included!!”

“Ah, right right. ‘Our’ plans.”

He didn’t sound happy with that. But why…?

Meanwhile, Hikari and Miyako just met with Lune at the ferris wheel area. They were still trying to avoid being caught by Soleil and Flaremon, or cross paths with Rafflesimon.

“Lune-san!” Hikari exclaimed, she and Miyako plus their partner digimon ran in the girl’s direction, “What happened to Soleil-kun?”

“...” But Lune did not want to answer that, she immediately changed the subject, “Your friends were caught by… A friend of mine, Kayono.”

“A friend?” Miyako raised an eyebrow.

“Look, we were classmates in middle school. She liked to flirt with boys. She hit on someone I liked. We had a fight, and then we never talked after that ever again.”

“So… That explains why she’s targeting boys,” Hawkmon mused, “Rafflesimon can turn her enemies into servants by shedding her scales on them.”

“But why is she targeting you then?” Tailmon went straight to the point.

“...” Lune felt hesitant to answer that, “Your friends, Motomiya-kun and the others are fine. Lekismon put them to sleep and their digimon are watching them for us.”

“You’re hiding something here,” Tailmon squinted her eyes.

“I don’t need to tell you anything else!” she snapped, “Just… Just help me to beat her and get Soleil… Youta back.”

“We will, we need to save Daisuke-kun and the others too,” Hikari added with a serious gaze.

“We… We can do this” Miyako said, but deep down she was weak and insecure. Silphymon cannot evolve, can they? Would Jogress work if she is feeling bad like this??

Hikari-chan can do this alone, Tailmon can evolve further, without Aquilamon and me…

“Rafflesimon is a final level digimon” Lekismon said, “We could get a chance if you distract her and let me use my bubble bombs on her.”

“... Ultimate level means we’re at disadvantage” Tailmon mused, “Silphymon and Angewomon are perfect level, and Lekismon is adult level… We would have to break the mind control and ask Daisuke and Ken to use Imperialdramon against her.”

“But if we can’t do that…” Miyako whispered, “It’s all game over for us…”

“We have to try!” Lekismon stomped her foot on the floor, like the bun she is, “This isn’t time for showing weakness!!”

“We couldn’t contact Étoile too” Lune sighed, “We will have to ask Miss Espimon to help us too.”

“Ken-san had direct contact with Noel-san though,” Hawkmon added, “But she sent a message to Hikari-san and Miyako-san to warn us about Rafflesimon.”

“Oh right!” Miyako then grabbed her phone, “If we get Arsenemon to help us, maybe we have a chance!” and she dialed the phone which Miss Espimon used to send the message.

She managed to call Miss Espimon but not Noel, sadly.

Suddenly, Rafflesimon was informed about the whereabouts of Lune, from one of her brainwashed-servants. The vile girl switched forms, back to her human form -- neck length brown hair, deep pink eye color, and a few strands of her hair were tied with a crimson ribbon.

She was called by the same boy who was Daisuke’s friend (Matsuno Takato) and he whispered to her something:

“Your former friend, Mizuki, was spotted at the ferris wheel.”

“Oh? This makes things easier for me now~ Good job, Matsuno-kun~”

The masked faux Kaiser came in, with Dracumon next to them.

“I don’t know what Mizuki had done for a gentleman like you to ask me a favor, but I want a date in return~”

“... Sorry, but I’m not interested in going on a date with you,” the other said, calmly, “And your trick cannot work on me.”

“Hmph, fine. I have Youta-kun already!”

“I’m only interested in one person and only one person: Ichijouji Ken-kun.”

“Alright, alright~ I will punish Mizuki for getting involved with the famous genius boy for you.”

“Geez, why is Noel-kun not answering!?” Miyako pouted, looking at Miss Espimon, “Is he brainwashed too and you’re avoiding telling us?!”

“No! He’s not!” Miss Espimon was there now, and she hissed at Miyako, “He… He suddenly stopped responding. That’s all.”

“I’m concerned…” Hikari frowned, looking at the girls and their digimon, “Why wouldn’t he answer us…?”

“It’s not something to worry about,” Tailmon said with a serious gaze at the girl, “at least not now.”

“Yeah, Tailmon is right,” Lune nodded, “We got more problems to deal with, we don’t need more things to care about here. Étoile can handle things by himself pretty well.”

“We need to attract Rafflesimon and distract her to put her to sleep and snatch the fake fragment from her, correct?” Hawkmon was recapping the plan, to be sure everyone understood it.

“Yeah!” Lunamon replied with a grin, “A good dose of my sleeping bubble-bombs can hit even a Final-level digimon for a few minutes, heheh!”

“I can’t believe we can’t get more help for this…” Miyako muttered to herself, she was a bit tense… Going against a strong digimon enemy with only a Jogress digimon, an Adult-level digimon and Miss Espimon sounded quite tricky.

She was about to suggest to Hikari ditch the Jogress and focus on using Holydramon, but Hikari herself put a hand on Miyako’s shoulder after noticing Miyako spacing out due to stress.

“We can’t use the Jogress if you’re trembling like that,” Hikari’s voice was soft and calming. It relieved her heart somehow. Her hand on Miyako’s shoulder felt warm.

“I always worked as Soleil’s support in battles and missions” Lune said, and although she looked serene outside, inside she was unstable like stormy weather, “I’m not a good fighter. But if we manage to break him out of this we could use his power to beat Rafflesimon.”

“We’re not powerful like Imperialdramon either,” Tailmon added, “But if we combine our forces we might make the difference.”

Make the difference…? -- Miyako thought, frowning -- Yeah, you say it so, but Silphymon cannot evolve… And if we’re fighting a Final-level digimon… We need Ken-kun and Daisuke’s help after all…

“I thought you girls were a little more tougher than those birdbrained dudes” Lunamon shrugged, “Mizuki, we’re in real trouble without Noel’s help after all.”

“W-what do you mean by that!?” Hawkmon snapped, and it was really really rare to see him do that, “Of course we’re strong enough for that! We just don’t go recklessly into battle like you’re implying here!”

“Geez, you’re implying we go recklessly wrecking things?! We got a nerd on our team, you know??”

“Why are you trying to pick a fight with us?” Tailmon stared at Lunamon with a murderous gaze. You don’t mess with Tailmon or her friends, including her jogress partner Hawkmon.

“I said--” Lune covered her partner’s mouth.

“ENOUGH!” Miyako shouted, making everyone look at her, “I don’t understand you at all! You ask our help and now you’re--”

“Lunamon does that when she’s nervous”, Lune explained. “It’s a bad habit. Sorry. Lunamon, please apologize now.”

She uncovered the digimon’s mouth, “Sorry, yeah… I’m concerned about us not being able to pass by Flaremon.”

“Huh…?”

“Like… he’s just standing in front of us right at the entrance.”

“W-WHAT!?”

“And you didn’t tell us this whole time!?” Miyako hissed. But she took her digivice and glanced at Hikari, “Hikari-chan!”

“Ok, Miyako-san!”

Hawkmon evolved into Aquilamon. Then, the digivices’ colors changed, becoming a matched pair and then released lights which formed the Jogress Holy Ring for its execution -- Aquilamon and Tailmon turned into light beams and waltzed in a helix shape. Once the lights hit the Jogress Ring, Silphymon emerged from its top.

“We have to stop him as well, Lunamon!” Lune said, grabbing her digivice.

“Righto!” Lunamon nodded.

Lunamon evolve to… Lekismon!!

Flaremon was still acting strangely, of course. Silphymon could deal with him as they’re a Perfect-level digimon too, and Lekismon would’ve been able to use her sleeping bubble-bombs on him. The lion-man digimon dashed into their direction, ready to capture the girls when Silphymon kicked him with one of their bird legs, forcing Flaremon to step back.

“No, you won’t!” Silphymon (Aquilamon side) said, seriously.

“Get out,” Soleil said, “This is about Master Kayono and Mizuki.”

“Huh??” Hikari and Miyako then turned to the other girl, who bit her lip.

“Soleil, wake up! She’s using you!!” then Luna snapped, “You’re better than this!”

“...”

“Now, Lekismon!!” Miss Espimon whispered to the bun digimon.

“Moon Night Bomb!!”

Lekismon threw a few of her hypnotic bubbles from her gloves at Soleil and Flaremon, but the lion-man digimon destroyed them with lion-shaped energy waves concentrated from his flames -- the Crimson Beast King Wave technique.

“W-what!?” Lekismon gulped.

“Try again!” Hikari suggested, and glanced at Silphymon, “Help Lekismon, Silphymon!”

“Alright!” Silphymon said with their dual voice.

“You shouldn’t get in Master Kayono’s way…!”

Flaremon then used his purifying roar to stop Silphymon, and said technique was burning the opponent’s with its shockwaves. Oddly, Flaremon didn’t seem to be using it fully… But why?

“You can’t be serious, Youta!!” Miss Espimon snapped, “What’s wrong with you?! I thought you were helping us against the bad guys?!”

“I will do everything for--”

“ENOUGH!!” Lune shouted this time, “I won’t run away this time…!! If Kayono wants to hurt me, then better she do it by herself and not by using you against us!”

A woman’s laugh was heard, and then… The girl called Kayono appeared alongside the masked faux Kaiser.

“Oh it’s you. ” Miyako gritted her teeth, “Of course it’s you playing with innocent lives again…!!”

“Kayono!” Lune said with a confused face that the girl seemed normal, but she couldn’t spot anything like a shard in Kayono’s hand or attire, “Please get out of this…!!”

“She won’t hear you,” the fake Kaiser said, “The experiment had been a success. Now, after all the trouble you and your precious Arsenemon friend had caused to me…”

“I won’t let you hurt Youta, my friends or me!” Lune said, enraged. She was so sure about what to do now… She had to save Soleil at all costs.

“We need to take the fragment off Kayono-san so everyone get back to normal right?” Hikari smiled at Lune, “Then… Let’s go, Miyako-san, Lune-san.”

“Alright girls” Lune smirked, “Leave Soleil and Flaremon to Lekismon and me.”

“I bet you can’t find it,” the faux Kaiser shrugged.

“Say it once we obliterate you, faker!” Miyako clenched her fists.

Kayono hmphed, and then switched forms to Rafflesimon again.

“With a weak digimon like yours can you beat me??” Rafflesimon scoffed, “Pathetic you have been siding up with someone like Mizuki.”

“Oh shut up for a second!!” Miyako hissed, “Silphymon, time to snatch the shard from that annoying brat!”

“Espimon, can you detect where it is, please?” Hikari asked.

“Right!! Searching Mode… ON!!”

Miss Espimon’s eyes flashed and the light coming from them scanned Rafflesimon’s body. But the digi-cyborg flinched once discovering where the fragment was!!

“What’s wrong?” Miyako asked.

“It’s… inside her body…!! The fragment was inserted inside her body!!”

“WHAT?!”

“... She’s right,” Silphymon (Tailmon side) affirmed with a nod at Miyako, “My visor caught the signals coming inside that girl’s body.”

“B-but how can we get it now?!” Miyako panicked, “There’s no way we could… We could solve this by ourselves!!”

“Miyako-san!” Hikari glanced at the other girl, “Hang in there, please!”

“But…!!”

“Do anything with them,” the fake Kaiser said, then he turned back, “I will look for Ichijouji Ken, my worthy opponent.”

“!!!” Miyako’s eyes widened, she felt afraid of whoever that person wanted to do with Ken. If she couldn’t beat Rafflesimon… She would never save Ken, Iori, Daisuke and Takeru…!!

“Ah, I can bring him here” Rafflesimon smirked, “They’re part of my hivemind, I can--”

“TOP GUN!!”

A sphere of energy was shot from Silphymon’s hands (by Aquilamon side) and made the villainess turn her head to the small jogress digimon in front of her.

“How dare you!!”

Flaremon was already facing Lekismon in the background, with Miss Espimon’s assistance. His speed was somehow better than Lekismon, but the warrior bun refused to give up on it. She and Lune had to stop them!

“Soleil, snap out of it!!” Lune shouted, desperately and her voice quivering.

But now the boy was not answering her anymore.

“Mot Bomb!!” “Tear Arrow!!”

Oddly, this had some effect on Flaremon. Lune whispered “It’s working??”

“We won’t let you touch one single finger on Ken-kun!” Miyako shouted, making Hikari blink.

“Tsc, you can’t beat me, I have an army. What can a single pathetic girl do against me?”

“Silphymon! Get her back to normal!”

“Alright!” Silphymon (Aquilamon’s side) replied, and nodded. Then, they went directly to attack Rafflesimon with a Dual Sonic technique -- crashing their speed into a shock wave in her direction.

That attack kinda made a scratch on the opponent, somehow.

“It’s working?!” Miyako gasped, “Then…!!”

“Ballet Gun!!” Rafflesimon fired her long sleeves against Silphymon, who dodged for a single moment from the rapid fire. Except she was smarter and was positioning the flower reflectors to ricochet the projectiles onto Silphymon and the girls.

“W-what!?” Silphymon said in unison. Then they got hit, “OOF!”

“Silphymon!” the girls screamed.

“Ugh…!!” But the jogress digimon refused to give in right now.

“How stubborn you are! But it won’t last!” Rafflesimon scoffed again, then aimed at the girls. She shot against Miyako and Hikari.

“Miyako-san!” “Hikari!” Silphymon gasped, the two sides of the composed digimon were in shock. Then Silphymon dashed into their partners, and tried to stop that shot with their bare hands.

Miyako was petrified, but Hikari shoved her to the ground. Hikari was definitely sure it would hit her, so she closed her eyes and hoped for a miracle. Miyako was still in shock, wishing desperately that she could do something. This was resonating deep down in Silphymon’s core.

It was when… her digivice and Miyako’s threw beams of light on Silphymon. And thus…

Something unexpected happened.

Silphymon, ultimate-evolve!! Valkyrimon!

A beam of light surrounded Silphymon and then other two lights in red and pink danced in the shape of a helix as the digimon jumped into the red Jogress ring. From there, a gorgeous androgynous-looked like figure with a golden bird flying around them -- Valkyrimon -- came out of it.

Valkyrimon threw an unerring arrow at the projectile, destroying it, before it could reach Hikari. The girls looked in front of them, at their majestic jogress.

“Silphymon… evolved…” Miyako was in awe, while Hikari was speechless.

“Huh… You’re definitely different now, got a growth spurt?”

Valkyrimon paid their blabbering opponent no mind.

“I can get the fragment out of her body,” Valkyrimon (Tailmon’s side) said, “But might be a little trickish.”

“Can you?” Hikari asked.

“I’d love to see you try then!” Rafflesimon laughed, “Ballet Gun!!”

The next set of projectiles were fired against the gallant warrior, who did not move until the next instance. Valkyrimon smirked then dodged the projectiles while they fired more arrows against those, destroying them before they reached the reflectors or the others. Meanwhile, Lekismon and Miss Espimon kept using all the brute force they had to exhaust Flaremon and make him devolve.

It seemed like their strategy was working. And Lune kept noticing something happening with Flaremon -- he was restraining his attacks. The attacks used by him were getting weaker and weaker. Was he resisting… whoever was controlling him?

“Impossible!!” Rafflesimon gasped, trembling in fear

“We will end this right now!!” Valkyrimon (Aquilamon side) shouted, and then wielded their sword.

“Wait, don’t tell me they'll--” Miyako blurted out, eyes widened once she realized what this could mean.

“FENRIR SWORD!!”

Valkyrimon dashed into the speed of light and slashed Rafflesimon in an instant. Kayono felt something inside shattering, and thus the cold as if she had gotten ill. The evolution has done and she returned to her original form, a single human being.

Is she dead?

Everyone glanced at the fallen girl being caught by the radiant warrior, gently.

“W-what did you… do…?” Kayono used her last strength to talk.

“You gotta be kidding me!!” Miyako snapped, while Hikari was just in shock and her hands covering her mouth.

Soleil suddenly felt dizzy, and he walked until Lune, falling in her arms. The spell was undone, but at what cost?

“GAH, YOU KILLED THE HUMAN!” Lekismon and Miss Espimon panicked.

“It’s okay,” Valkyrimon turned to the others, and with Tailmon’s voice, they said, “We know what we’re doing.”

“W-what do you mean!?” Lune babbled, also terrified by that move.

Valkyrimon then started to glow, their hand was put over the girl’s chest. Slowly, the wounds and cold pale skin started to get more vivid again, pinkish and warm. Kayono then opened her eyes, confused about what had just happened.

“W-what… How…” Miyako exclaimed.

“I see…!!” Miss Espimon said, stroking her chinless face, “Valkyrimon can resurrect the fallen with their powers. So they killed the human for a few seconds in order to destroy the fake shard inside their body! Huhu, that was a gamble!”

“That’s a relief…!” Hikari smiled, then her muscles relaxed after that tension caused by the fight and by Valkyrimon’s risky strategy to beat the case.

“Ugh… My head…” Soleil opened his eyes, slowly. He didn’t realize he was still in Lune’s arms though… But the moment he noticed it… she embraced him in a hug, “W-what??”

“Don’t dare to do something that stupid again!” she said, hugging him tightly. But her voice tone was threatening though. Hikari looked at them and was quite confused by that behavior.

“Uh, guys…” Lekismon interrupted them, pointing out to Flaremon, who was still acting weirdly.

“...!!”

Flaremon tried to attack them, only to get Valkyrimon stop him at the speed of light, and kicked him away from the others.

“Flaremon… He got possessed…!” Soleil said, staring at his partner. The girls and Valkyrimon looked at the beast man digimon.

“Possessed!?” Miyako repeated, “Like… the same time Daisuke was used as a vessel for a creepy digimon?”

“Hmm… So you’ve noticed it.” Flaremon said, with a strange voice instead, “Seems like the Kaiser-guy failed… Again.”

“Huh, so you’re affiliated to that jerk too!” Miyako clenched her fist.

“Seriously, if you want someone to make a job for you… Do it yourself.”

Flaremon (?) was about to attack when…

“UN DEUX TROIS!”

Arsenemon appeared and used a shield field around the kids and their digimon to separate them from Flaremon (?).

“Ah, here you are… Arsenemon.”

“Excusez-moi, but I did not come alone,” he snapped his fingers and suddenly HolyAgemon emerged from a portal.

“HOLY DISINFECTION!!” The surprise-attack from the angel digimon hit Flaremon, who expelled the digimon possessing him out of his body. Flaremon reverted back to Sunmon due to exhaustion though.

It was the same digimon who had attacked Daisuke once.

“IT’S THAT GUY AGAIN!?” Miyako exclaimed. Hikari only gasped in silence.

“Kh… Hahaha… You have the guts, Arsenemon” the digimon vanished like dust, but their voice echoed, “We will meet again!!”

“W-where have you been!?” Lekismon snapped, her pout should tell she was mad with him.

“I was doing a little more research on our opponents, pardon mademoiselle.”

“Who’s that digimon, Arsenemon?” Valkyrimon (Aquilamon side) asked.

“Our biggest concern, mis Digisauveurs. I suspect they might be behind those attacks and using humans for that mischief.”

“Hmmm…”

“HolyAngemon is here but…” Hikari turned to the flamboyant phantom thief, “Where’s Takeru-kun and the others?”

“I left them in a safer place, considering the faux Kaiser was looking for monsieur Ichijouji.”

“Alright,” Miyako said, “share the information with us all. Let’s meet in that safer place you mentioned.”

Meanwhile they talked, Soleil took the weakened Sunmon from the floor and smiled at him, “I thought I’d have to lose you again…”

Hikari heard him, and went over, “Are you okay, Soleil-kun?” In the background, Valkyrimon jogress reverted into Tailmon and Hawkmon.

“Yeah, sort of” he answered, softly and differently from his usual snarky remarks.

“You seem like this wasn’t the first time it happened,” Tailmon approached, “Could you explain?”

“... Right, I’ll do it. We will do it,” he replied, looking at Arsenemon and Lune.

#young prince detective ichijouji ken #02 team digimon case files

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iiyanadesu · 4 months

Text

This week I found out about the new Digimon 02 movie (02 The Beginning / 02TB), so I watched it! I was super lucky because this week is the last for movie showcase in my city. I cannot believe I almost missed it *exhales*

Some deets and thoughts under cut. Major spoilers ahoy. May contain wrong info and delusions. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

1. This movie focuses more on the movie MC rather than the 02 kids themselves. Disappointing but understandable, since unlike the Adventure kids who are full of conflicts and clashing ideas and fight hard to prove that the enemy is wrong, the 02 kids prefer to find a common ground and accept whatever weird ideas thrown their way. The 02 kids' enemies are not always enemies for them, they're just people with different opinions.

2. The movie MC is Rui Ohwada, who claimed to be the first ever Digidestined. He has a broken Digivice, wears an eyepatch to hide his weird right eye. His Digimon is Ukkomon, but due to a fallout Ukkomon is now threatening the world by attempting to fulfill Rui's wishes - to have more friends. Ukkomon's method: appearing as a huge Digitama and sending a message.

"May everyone be happy. May everyone have a Digimon."

Rui is trying to stop Ukkomon from doing so.

3. Ukkomon sent Rui, Daisuke, Ken, Veemon and Wormmon into a dimension similar to the past. Rui's past life. Here we learn many things: that Rui lived in Hikarigaoka (a.k.a. the place where Digimons were first observed), Rui lived with an abusive mom and critically sick dad, Rui's birthday is February 29th, Rui was beaten a lot. Daisuke was pissed and tried to interfere (what a good guy), Ken held him back (he thought if this is really the past, they'd probably end up changing history), Rui said not to bother.

They stayed for like 2 hours until Ukkomon appeared and Rui tried to stop his kid self from making a wish, but according to the others, they fell through Ukkomon immediately.

4. We later find out that Ukkomon did a lot of things that ended up breaking Rui afterwards. Mom suddenly became nicer. Dad miraculously recovered. Celebrated 8th bday (albeit in a dark room) and told some friends couldn't make it. (It was 2000, Adventure kids were busy fighting enemy Digimons. They were those "some friends" that Ukkomon mentioned.)

Next birthday or so (or was it 2002? A.k.a. the 02 events?) was the day Rui found out about other Digidestined who apparently endanger their lives fighting with and against Digimons. Also the day he found out that his parents weren't exactly alive. They had been under Ukkomon's control the entire time. The horror.

Rui tried to smash his Digivice, but the thing's shrapnel(?) hit his right eye. Ukkomon tried to recover the eye by giving his to Rui, but already upset Rui told Ukkomon to buzz off because he hated everything that Ukkomon did for him. Ukkomon cried and melted away.

Since then Rui lived with his relatives. Now he lives by himself trying to figure out what to do wih his life and Ukkomon.

5. The 02 kids have vastly different reactions upon hearing Rui's story lol. Hikari for example said Rui was being ungrateful - Ukkomon saved him from being abused further by his mom, but he chose to hate it? But Hikari dear, Ukkomon Killed. His. Parents. And. Puppet-controlled. Them. That's Amoral.

Wait, I'm not sure if there's someone among them who do agree that Ukkomon wasn't exactly correct with its judgment. Daisuke thinks that maybe both Rui and Ukkomon don't know each other well, since Ukkomon is only doing what it thinks pleases Rui, while Rui just okays whatever Ukkomon does until he finds out he's not ok with them.

6. Also, the revelation about Digidestined = Rui's potential friends is making the 02 kids question the meaning of their human-Digimon bonds and all the fights they went through. Like what the hey, the origin of Digidestined is shallow af! But ultimately they told Rui that despite having their bonds manufactured by Ukkomon, their friendship with Digimon are real for them. They were the ones making their friendship possible. If they can be friends with their Digimon and improve each other, then Rui can, too.

With that being said, Rui-kun really lived an easy life, huh. Disregarding the fact that it was all fabricated by Ukkomon.

7. While the gang discussing on how to defeat Ukkomon, someone has worries about Digimon partnership - Takeru. He was worried that the bond with Digimon will disappear for nth time. Guy needs serious therapy. You are an adult now, pls seek help. (Note: Takeru has a broken family; parents divorced, siblings separated, lost Patamon once in Adv, lost it again in tri. iirc, and in Kizuna his big bro Yamato lost Gabumon for real. He really has attachment problem.)

8. Ken and Daisuke have very cute interactions. When they tried to send Rui towards Ukkomon so they can have proper talk, Ken was impressed with what Daisuke said. Guy was so smitten towards his S/O Jogress partner best friend lol. Miyako had to tell them not to flirt with each other hahahaha I cannot, the Daiken is strong as ever

9. Rui went back to the past and catch his mom, telling her to stay strong and kind, because despite whatever she did to baby Rui, baby Rui loved her so much. Seeing her son trotting behind, Rui's mom cried and picked him up and celebrated his birthday. Giving Rui the sense of closure he needed, even if he can't really change his past.

Ukkomon appeared but this time, Rui told Ukkomon that he needed nothing. Having Ukkomon was all he needed. And he was interested to know more about Ukkomon, and Ukkomon about him.

10. The final battle isn't really a battle tbh. They were just making Ukkomon reborn into a Digitama. Most annoying being the evolution sequences having to repeat the start of Jogress evolution theme every. Single. Time. Like come on, just continue that song. It was annoying af because I quite liked it and wanted to hear it in full.

11. The movie ends with all Digidestined saying goodbye to their precious Digivices, now that the Digivices are not needed to prove their human-Digimon bonds. Sad that the Adventure kids aren't able to join this fight, especially those who already lost their Digimons (Taichi, Yamato, Sora, Menoa, maybe Meiko?). They must freak out when their Digivices disappear to add to the wound that is losing their Digimons.

Like Ukkomon wanted everyone to have a Digimon, this should include those who lost theirs right? But the plan is foiled... Or is it?

12. The kids then play snowball lol Adults who are kids at heart. Lovely. Love them all.

Miyako tries to flirt with Ken but Ken just goes, "??? Miyako-san???" Ken, you're smooth when it comes to Daisuke but clueless with Miyako I just cannot lol pls marry Daisuke

13. Oh yeah. There's a fem fanservice in the form of Iori showing his bare back after Kendo training. *exhales*

14. Also. Ken's fainted form when he dropped onto Hikarigaoka's pavement. Elegant. (Rui's form is also elegant but his fashion sense ruins it lol)

15. Nobody ever mentioned the actual 02's lore. Oikawa. Hiroki. Dmitrimon. Well even though Oikawa seemed to be the one who created Digital World and Digimons, he was not made a Digidestined. And considering the events, even though many fans seem to disagree, yeah Rui is really the first Digidestined ever.

Rui got his Digivice in 1996. 4th bday.

That same year was Taichi and Hikari's first interaction with Agumon. However they weren't given Digivices; they got theirs in 1999.

1999 is the year the Adventure kids getting their Digimons and Digivices.

02 kids got their Digivices in 2002. Except maybe Ken, who got his between 1999 and 2002. Oikawa also got his in 2002, although he died shortly after that.

16. As for age, Rui is 20. This 02TB event happened before his 20th birthday (2012 is leap year). Apparently he forgot his own birthday, maybe due to being traumatized with what happened with his family and Ukkomon.

Ken, Daisuke, Takeru, Hikari are 21. Ooh, they can drink booze now huh.

Miyako is 22. Iori is 19.

Not related to his movie, but in this event, Taichi, Yamato, Sora are now 24. Joe is 25. Koushiro and Mimi are 23. I think.

17. Takeru drives a car!! He's the only Digidestined seen having a car. Yamato is known to have a motorbike (re: Kizuna). So how do the others go to places? Well Ken has Wormmon-Stingmon so he can fly. Same with Miyako (Hawkmon-Aquilamon) and Daisuke (Veemon-Exveemon). Hikari? Not sure. She did have a bicycle, but there's the possibility she uses Tailmon-Angewomon, who can also fly.

I'm curious about Taichi, lol.

18. The kids do Jogress using smartphones instead of their original D-3 Digivice at first. Then when it's time to face off Ukkomon, they used the D-3.

I still can't remember the dubbed name for Jogress evolution. (Had to search online. It's DNA Evolution. So Jogress it is. lol)

Also, no Armor evolution. Bummer.

19. Best character here: Daisuke. 2nd best: Ken. Rui is ok. Hikari seems to have a weird standing about Rui's life. Takeru needs therapy. Iori has too little dialogue, the poor guy. At least we get to see his bare back hueheheheh Miyako is Miyako.

I think that's enough for rants and maybe some delulu. 02TB has started to kick SAO out of my mind (SAO has been accompanying me since 2020). Ohnoes.

#digimon 02 #digimon 02 the beginning #02tb #02tb spoilers #digimon 02 the beginning spoilers

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kyanitedragon · 6 months

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02 The Beginning Thoughts

(First off, I want to warn that this movie needs trigger warnings. There’s a very intense and in-depth depiction of child abuse, and quite a bit of horror, including body horror. This is the most in-your-face dark Digimon has been. So please keep this in mind, especially if you’re sensitive to any of it.)

Simply put, I didn’t like the movie. I have a lot of issues with it, and in general I found it really confusing and thought it didn't make any sense.

Honestly between Tri and Kizuna and now this, I've felt like the new movies have a Star Wars kind of situation going on. Where different people make each new movie with their own ideas and understanding of the lore, and thus none of the movies connect and all of them have dropped plot threads.

(Spoilers under the cut!)

This movie didn’t answer any of the questions remaining after Tri, which wasn’t surprising, but not even Kizuna either, which was surprising. None of Kizuna’s events are even mentioned or addressed in the movie.

Did anyone else lose their partners in the 2-year gap? Is that even still a threat to the remaining digidestined? Are the zero two kids worried about it?

Kizuna ended on such a heavy note. I really feel like that should have been addressed in some form.

Other than a little montage at the start, we really didn’t get any other nods to the 02 kids’ futures and careers. I feel like Tri did better on that note. (Slightly).

Plot-wise, there really wasn’t much to the movie, and despite being advertised as the 02 kids’ movie, they really didn’t do much in it. It was much more of a character study of Lui, which is fine, but not what was advertised or what I came for.

I love the zero two kids, Zero Two is my favorite digimon series, but here the characters all felt off to me. Or rather, they didn’t feel like they had their time to shine. The movie didn’t really play to any of their strengths.

I’d love to see Iori get serious and philosophical. Hikari and Tailmon, who met because Tailmon was trying to kill her, react to and relate to Lui claiming he killed Ukkomon. Ken, who had abused Wormmon in the past. Takeru, who’s lost Patamon so many times now and it's a great fear of his.

I honestly loved that moment at the end, where Takeru is the one to bring up the idea of losing their digimon if they kill Ukkomon, and he was the only one refusing to fight and take that risk. After everything he's been through, after Tri, of course he would be so scared of that. He's always been really sensitive about it, and time and time again it keeps cropping up as a risk.

Daisuke’s the only one who felt consistantly in-character, with him and Veemon being so sure of and passionate about digimon partnerships and friendships.

I feel Iori was done the worst. I’ve been so curious of how his character evolved off screen, as he was so young in Zero Two but always mature, and now he’s an adult. But he really seemed to have the least to do.

I don’t inherently mind Lui. I think he’s perfectly fine as a character. He just really doesn’t feel like a Digimon character to me. His design, backstory, and personality all strike me as from a modern mainstream anime. He stands out a lot compared to everyone else.

I don’t mind his backstory being of child abuse. I actually think it's really compelling on paper. Adventure dealt with kids from all kinds of home backgrounds. But it did feel severely dark in ways Digimon hasn’t gone before, which felt really jarring. I think going a more subtle but still very clear what was happening route would have been better. I don’t think the abuse needed to be shown so graphically.

The horror felt similarly out of place. I think Ghost Game and Digimon Survive managed really dark horror in really natural ways, but here it felt jarring.

Maybe it's just the combination of the abuse portrayal plus the horror, but it felt like too much. I felt like I was watching an entirely different anime.

I keep seeing people say “But this movie is aimed at adults!”, but I think that really undermines the emotional power of the original anime. Of every Digimon anime, actually.

We had a very clearly depressed and suicidal Ken in Zero Two. I watched that as a kid. I didn’t understand suicide or suicide idealation at that point, but I fully understood that this kid was hopeless and was willing to risk his life, and wanting to do that.

And what about Tamers? What about Juri’s entire character and storyline?

Digimon has shown time and time again it can handle dark topics really well and be easily understood while still being child appropriate. I don’t agree that everything needs to be graphic just because it's aimed at adults.

Again, I’m not complaining about the darkness. I’m complaining about how it was portrayed and how out of place it felt among the series as a whole.

I knew this part going in, and I had suspected for a while anyway, so I wasn’t too disappointed by it. But there weren’t any new evolutions. This is an issue with the series’ treatment of Zero Two in general, but I’m really sick of these kids not having confirmed jogress megas or a full through-line of natural evolutions. I was hoping for Valkyriemon, a new jogress mega for Shakkoumon, and then new digimon to complete their natural evolutions. But at this point, I’d take anything. Reuse Vikemon, I don’t care, I just want to see everyone get Megas! I feel really bad for Miyako and Iori, being the only ones that have nothing.

The lore. The retcons. This movie had so many unncessary contradictions of OG Adventure lore. I think I need another post about just this, because I’ve been running in circles trying to theorize and figure it out all night. So I'm moving on for now.

The digivices. As far as lore goes, I’m completely fine with them vanishing. I like the idea of the bonds not being inherently linked to the digivices, I think that's been implied already. And it nicely parallels the 8 kids losing their crests in Adventure.

What I don’t understand, however, is the merchandising side of this choice. They literally were just advertising and selling Daisuke and Ken’s D-3’s for like $130 USD. Digivices that canonically no longer exist in-universe. I was thinking about getting one, but decided against it because of the price. I’d probably be so mad right now if I did order one.

And on a sentimental note, I’m really sad about it. I'm not even considering this a real complaint of mine, as I get really emotional about so many fictional items, but I just wanted to mention it. I’m really gonna miss seeing the kids have those digivices. On the coolness level too, I love their concept and colors and the abilities they have. It feels a little cheap to me that their phones can seemingly do it all now, even if it makes sense at this point in the world.

I think that covers everything. So, yeah. I really didn’t care for this movie. I adore zero two and all the cast, and I was really hoping to see everyone shine, but this movie was really Lui’s movie instead. Maybe on a rewatch I can better appreciate it for Lui's story and character, but for now I’m just really bitter we still don’t have a good follow up movie for the zero two kids.

#digimon #digimon adventure #digimon adventure 02 the beginning #02 the beginning #02tb spoilers #02 the beginning spoilers

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