The lives of seven kids are about to change forever. Following a series of bizarre weather changes, and discovering a bunch of odd devices that fell from the sky, Taichi, Yamato, Sora, Mimi, Koushiro, Jou, and Takeru find themselved transported to a place called File Island. There, they are befriended by strange creatured called 'digimon'. Before more is explained, however, they're attacked by an aggressive insect called Kuwagamon. The small creatures try to protect the children, but are easily thrown aside. Finally, they evolve into Agumon, Gabumon, Piyomon, Palmon, Tentomon, Gomamon, and Patamon, and together, they defeat Kuwagamon. Their victory is cut short, however, when Kuwagamon gets back up and causes the cliff they're on to collapse, sending them all plummeting to the river below...
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This is the first episode of Digimon to air, and as far as the dub is concerned, boy did it reek. First, let's look at all of the name changes that were made to the characters introduced here:
>>> Taichi was shortened to just Tai. Of the major characters, he's the only one to have his last name changed as well, from Yagami to Kamiya. Why'd they change it? Because they can, I guess.
>>> Yamato is now Matt.
>>> Koushiro is now Izzy.
>>> Jou is now Joe. Not that big a deal, as the pronounciation is almost identical.
>>> Takeru is now TK.
Note that Sora and Mimi are the only ones who's names are unscathed. By the way, Tai introduces the other kids at the beginning instead of a narrator. As for the digimon:
>>> Pyokomon was shortened to Yokomon.
>>> Pukamon was also changed to Bukamon.
>>> Similarly, Piyomon became Biyomon.
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I should also mention that all of the music in the dub was changed. It's a damn shame too because the original music was friggin' awesome. The crap that Saban came up with instead is completely dry, emotionless slush.
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Tai was just plain mean to the other kids as he introduced them:
Sora > "She's okay... for a girl."
Matt > "Matt is just too cool...(said with heavy sarcasm) Just look at that hair."
TK > "TK is Matt's dopey little brother."
Izzy > "He should've gone to computer camp."
Mimi > "I'll bet you can guess her favorite color on the first try."
Joe > "Don't scare him. He'll probably wet his pants!"
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MIMI (as everyone falls through the portal): "I knew I should've gone to cheerleading camp!!"
Mimi is portrayed as such a blonde in the dub. This little line is the first of many to establish her as such.
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SORA: "Where's the girl in the funny pink hat?"
TAI: "Now, now... her name is Mimi."
This is a total role reversal already. Sora is a very kind and compassinate individual, and although she doesn't really know her yet, I still doubt she would speak ill of Mimi like that. Besides... the hat looks cute on Mimi-chan.^^
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MATT (on the cliff): "Great... Anyone bring a helicopter?"
Oh, har har har!!! This is just a taste of some of Saban's awful attempts to beef up the comedy.
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Most of the digimon's attack names were changed as well:
>>> Baby Flame became Pepper Breath.
>>> Petite Fire became Blue Blaster.
>>> Magical Fire became Spiral Twister.
>>> Petite Thunder became Super Shocker.
>>> Air Shot became Boom Bubble.
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The kids are saved from almost certain death by Gomamon, who uses his Marching Fishes to catch everyone. They're delivered to dry land, where the digimon explain thier evolutions to everyone. When that's done, they decide to make their way to the ocean, which Taichi saw on the cliff. There, they hoped to find a boat to take them home, but instead they find a bunch of phone booths, which spout nothing but gibberish. As the tired group sits down to have lunch, a Shellmon appears and interrupts their meal. The digimon attack, but they have no energy because they're so hungry, except Agumon, as he's the only one who ate. When Taichi is caught by the Shellmon, Agumon evolves further into Greymon and defeats the beast. He then turns back into Agumon. As Shellmon wasn't destroyed, they decide to leave before it decides to come back.
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Another attack change to mention. Marching Fishes was called 'Fish Net'.
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Joe's allerigies are mentioned several times in this episode. Just more stupid stuff that was added. Jou in the orignal does not have any apparent allerigies. I think Saban just wanted to make Joe look like a weak little wuss.
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The concept of 'evolving' was changed to 'digivolving'. Another Saban invention. While I can't say I don't like it, I don't know what was wrong with 'evolution'.
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Also, as the digimon explain their evol... er, digivolutions, their Baby 2 > Child evo sequences were added to the scene. As if we needed that extra reinforcement to understand what was being explained :p
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Actually, while I'm still on evolution, I should probably mention the changes made to the names of evolutionary stages. They aren't mentioned in this episode, but this'll save me the pain later on:
>>> Baby 1 remains Baby.
>>> Baby 2 is now In-Training.
>>> Child is now Rookie.
>>> Adult is now Champion.
>>> Perfect is now Ultimate.
>>> Ultimate is now Mega.
Those last two stages can cause a potential headache when mixing references to the Original and the Dub.
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Greymon's Mega Flame became 'Digi Nova Blast'. In later episodes, it's shortened to just 'Nova Blast'.
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After fleeing a pair of terretorial Monochromon, the kids and their digimon decide to find a place to camp for the quickly-approaching night. They discover a lake with a small land bridge leading to an island with a streetcar. Unfortunatly, no one is inside, but they decide it'll be a good place to sleep in. Taichi and Agumon keep watch while Yamato also keeps them company. Suddenly a Seadramon attacks the group. Agumon is unable to evolve like before and the others seem to be no match for the huge aquatic dragon. When Yamato risks his life to save Takeru's, Gabumon steps in and evolves to Garurumon. After a fierce fight, Garurumon defeats Seadramon and the others head back to the mainland.
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My only problem with this episode dialogue-wise was Matt's remark to Tai about his relationship with Takeru, saying that they're half-brothers. This isn't so. They are actual brothers, but their parents are divorced. I guess Saban was too nervous to get into a subject like divorce, so they tried covering it up. Too bad for them we see more about their family later on in the Vamdemon saga, where they did finally acknowledge the divorced parents.
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A few attack changes:
>>> Ice Arrow is changed to Ice Blast.
>>> Fox Fire is changed to Howling Blaster. (The dubbers love the word 'blast'.)
>>> Marching Fishes is now 'Fish Power' >_<
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The group trudges on, making their way through a vast desert until they find a village of Pyokomon (Piyomon's baby form). They're very friendly and hospitable, and allow them to rest. Sora overhears Piyomon telling the others about how she evolved to save Sora. Hearing this, Sora, while at first annoyed by Piyomon's constantly hanging around her, realizes that their digimon have so far evolves in order to save them. Meanwhile, the others discover that all the water in town has dried up, due to the interference of a fire digimon called Meramon, who's about to attack the village. Piyomon and the others fight back, but their attacks have no effect on him. Finally, Piyomon evolves to Birdramon and defeats Meramon, causing a black gear to fall from his body. It seems the gear is what made him so violent...
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One thing about this episode is how they seemed to completely cover up Sora's annoyances with Piyomon in the first half of the episode. It seems they didn't want to show any type of conflict between one of the Chosen and their digimon counterpart.
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MIMI (holding up a compass): "You won't believe what happened to my watch! The sun melted all the numbers off!"
Another 'Mimi is a stupid bimbo' moment. She was actually just showing the others the compass she had, suggesting they use it to navigate.
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Meramon's Burning Fist was changed to simply 'Fireball'. Birdramon's Meteor Wing retained its name.
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Continuing their journey, the kids discover a huge factory and head inside to see if there are more humans. They don't find any, just a robotic digimon called Andromon. Koushiro, meanshile explores another part of the factory and discovers that the entire factory runs on a computer program, and entering it into his own laptop seemed to bother Tentomon. He rejoins the others to find they've been chased by Andromon, who's gone berserk. Greymon and Garurumon try fighting him, but they're beaten easily. Koushiro tries the program again. This time, Tentomon evolves to Kabuterimon and destroys the black gear that was making Andromon crazy. Once back to normal, Andromon apologizes and shows them a way out through the sewer access.
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Even the dub was mostly okay. The biggest blunder, though, was that Izzy already knew by this time that the odd gizmos that they recieved earlier are called Digivices. This completely ruins a significant plot point in episode 10.
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Attack change time!
Spiral Sword >>> Lightning Blade
Gatling Missile >>> Gatling Attack
Mega Blaster >>> Electro Shocker
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The kids and their digimon trudge through the sewers and encounter a swarm of Numemon, a disgusting digimon that attacks by flinging its own feces. They manage to escape and make their way outside, but more of them attack them and they are separated. While Mimi and Palmon try to escape, they run into a huge teddy bear called Monzaemon that also attacks them. One Numemon, who seems to have a crush on Mimi, helps her hide. Palmon says that Monzaemon is normally very kind and gentle, so they head to the land he governs, Toy Town. There, they find the other kids are bewitched, and their digimon are trapped. Monzaemon finds them and attacks again, but the Numemon come to protect Mimi. Seeing this, Palmon evolves to Togemon and manages to defeat Monzaemon, and destroys the black gear that caused him to go berserk.
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The first real cut that the dub made: At the beginning of the episode, a doll that was shown floating in the water was cut. My guess is Saban thought it looked too much like a dead child and thought it would scare the kiddies...
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Rather than poop, shit, feces, take your pick, the Numemon throw "Nume Sludge".
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The rest of the episode was okay. Just a couple more attack changes:
Lovely Attack >>> Hearts Attack
Prickly Bang-Bang >>> Digimon Needle Spray (from here on, it's just "Needle Spray")
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As the gang continues to explore File Island, Jou starts growing concerned about the dangers they've faced so far. As the oldest, he feels that their safety is his responsibility, which causes him to lash out unexpectedly. When Taichi and Yamato argue whether to climb Mugen Mountain, so they can survey the island better, Jou takes it upon himself to climb it on his own. Gomamon follows. Near the summit, they encounter a Unimon under the black gear's spell. Greymon and Birdamon try fighting it, but are beaten. When Jou endangers himself to try pulling out the gear, Gomamon evolves to Ikkakumon and destroys the gear. They make it to the summit, but discover that File Island is a remote region in the middle of a seemingly endless ocean...
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This episode was actually dubbed quite well in my opinion. Mind you, it would've been better if the original music was left in, but still, not too shabby as far as the dub is concerned.
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While the condiments mentioned were a bit different, the conversation about the wierd things everyone puts on their eggs was very well intact.
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Mugen Mountain was changed to Infinity Mountain. No big loss, though, since 'mugen' is Japanese for 'infinity'.
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One minor scene alteration. The note Joe left in the dirt was translated to English. No big.
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As for attack changes:
Holy Shot >>> Arial Attack
Harpoon Vulcan >>> Harpoon Torpedo
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On another part of Mugen Mountain, a battle between Leomon and Ogremon is interrupted by Devimon, who is apparently the source of the black gears. He then puts Leomon under his spell. Meanwhile, the kids start back down the mountain when they're attacked by Leomon and Ogremon. Their digimon evolve to fight them, but a landslide brings the battle to an abrupt end. The two are nowhere in sight afterwards. At the bottom of the mountain, the kids spot a hotel. There's no one else there, but they still eat, take a bath, and go to bed. The hotel turns out to be an illision, however, manufactured by Devimon to catch everyone off guard. He then breaks the island into several pieces, sending each of the kids off to separate parts. When Leomon is about to kill Taichi, the contraption of his glows again and removes Leomon's spell. He then enables Taichi to escape, but is put back under Devimon's power in the process...
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Alrighty. The plot begins to take shape, as the primo villain of this story arc is revealed. The dub handled it okay, but there were a couple censores.
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First censor was during the bath scene. Jou was nervous about getting in the tub with the others, so Taichi and Yamato get out to drag him in. Meanwhile, the girls find Gomamon swimming on their part of the tub, so Palmon flings him back over to the guys' side, beaning Jou in the process. A hilarious scene that was cut short due to several nude butts being seen. I dunno what the big deal is, since plenty of American cartoons get away with it.
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The other cut scene was when Leomon attacked Taichi. In the process, he grabs him by the throat and slams him into a wall. The whole throat-grabbing and wall-slamming parts were cut.
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Not much else to report, other than more attack changes:
Haaouken (Destructive King Fist) >>> Pummel Whack
Juuouken (Beast King Fist) >>> Fist of the Beast King
Death Claw >>> Touch of Evil
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Taichi and Agumon drift for a while before landing on a frozen wasteland. Shortly after arriving, they encounter a Yukidarumon controlled by a black gear. Agumon is too hungry to evolve, but a little ingenuity from Taichi allows him to still destroy the gear. Yukidarumon says he saw another human "with a Gabumon" (Yamato) land on another nearby island. In gratitude for freeing him from the gear's spell, he helps them find him, creating an ice bridge to the island. Meanwhile, Yamato nearly freezes to death searching for Takeru. Gabumon gives him his fur to keep him warm, but he catches cold as a result. Taichi, Agumon, and Yukidarumon then catch up with him, but Taichi and Yamato then start fighting over what to do next (Yamato is in a hurry to find the others while Taichi wants to explore the "world across the sea" Devimon mentioned). They start duking it out, but it's broken up by a Mojamon, also under the gear's control. Yukidarimon manages to find food for Agumon, however, and some herbs for Gabumon's cold. Feeling recharged, they evolve and destroy the Mojamon's gear, also destroying the gears controlling that segment of File Island, sending them drifting back toward Mugen Mountain.
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Yukidarumon was changed to Frigimon in the dub. And his attack, Absolute Zero Punch, was changed to Subzero Ice Punch, and Frigimon can't seem to stop saying that phrase throughout the episode (it's even the title of the episode).
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This is the first major attempt I found in the dub that tries to gloss over references to death. Rather than saying Matt would die if his hypothermia isn't taken care of, Gabumon says "he'll never make it". Should I add a comment about him being "sent to another dimension" instead?
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Tai and Matt's fight was greatly edited. Any place where one of their punches connect was replaced with a white flash. It's like, you're allowed to know they're beating each other up, you just can't see it.
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Mojamon's Icicle Rod was changed to Ice Cloud.
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While Taichi and Yamato are enduring their trials, Mimi crashes on another portion of File Island. She and Palmon are harassed by a rowdy Sukamon and Chuumon, but when they attack her, the device she was carrying gives off a warm light that causes the two to become nicer. They tell her that another human with a Tentomon came by a while ago and they give her directions where they went. Then they start hitting on Mimi, and she and Palmon run off. They find Koushiro and Tentomon in an ancient ruin. Koushiro is busy deciphering some hieroglyphics on the wall (similar to the ones in the factory) and seems to give little acknowledgement to Mimi’s existence. Pissed off, Mimi runs deeper into the ruin with Tentomon behind her trying to console her. Koushiro discovers, though, that the ruins are a very complex labyrinth. He and Palmon manage to contact her and guide her and Tentomon out of the maze, but a Kentarumon controlled by a black gear then attacks them. Kabuterimon and Togemon defeat him and destroy the gear. Kentarumon recognizes the devices they carry and tell them that they’re called the “Digivice”, a device of justice that can dispel evil. As he explains this, they’re discovered by Leomon, once again under Devimon’s spell. He defeats Kentarumon and moves in to kill Mimi and Koushiro when their digivices repel him and drive him away. Later, Koushiro goes back to studying the hieroglyphs, and a frustrated Mimi kicks a large black gear in the temple, causing the portion of the island to change course back to Mugen Mountain…
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Like the Numemon’s fecal attacks in episode 6, Sukamon’s crap was kind glossed over. In fact, dub Mimi thought at first it was “hair mousse”. Yeah, Mimi... I don't think you want to put that in your hair...
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Mimi says as she runs into the maze how she wants to go home and how "I'm even starting to miss my baby brother!" Later on, however, we'll see that Mimi is an only child. Whoops. That, Saban, is why you shouldn't try to make stuff like that up; it really bites you in the ass later.
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Kentarumon was changed to Centarumon. Not a big deal. His attack, Hunting Cannon, was changed to Solar Ray.
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Oh, and Centarumon, you're wasting your breath telling Mimi and Izzy about the digivices. Apparently they already knew what they were as early back as episode 5 :p
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Meanwhile, Jou and Gomamon encounter Ogremon while drifting out at sea. Gomamon evolves to battle him, and they barely escape, but Gomamon is getting too weak to carry Jou. Luckily, they're saved by Sora who was out fishing with Piyomon at that moment. They explore their segment of the island, eventually discovering a church, inhabited by what seem to be other humans. However, they turn out to be a group of Bakemon, who capture the group and plans to eat them. Gomamon and Piyomon manage to break out to save Sora and Jou, but the Bakemon then all merge into a large and powerful version of itself. It seems unbeatable, until Jou tries reciting a Buddhist sutra, which weakens the Bakemon enough for Birdramon and Ikkakumon to destroy it. They then start off back toward Mugen Mountain hoping to rejoin the others.
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Other than for a little stupid dialogue here and there, the dub episode turned out okay. Except for one big alteration hear the end of the episode.
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This episode marks the first instance where Gomamon's attack has been finally retained as "Marching Fishes", and it remains this way for the rest of the series.
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One ugly dialogue alteration is Biyomon singing "Sora is fishing! Sora is fishing!" Oh boy... She originally just cutely chirped "Piyo! Piyo!".
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The other was the Bakemon's chant: "We're scary ghosts! We like to boo! Now it's time to chew on you!!" *Groan*
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Now for the big one. Jou originally weakens Bakemon-sama by chanting a Buddhist sutra, figuring that a religious chant would weaken a dark creature like Bakemon. I guess they decided that since religion (or religion besides Christianity; since Angemon was allowed in later with minimal mangling) is a no-no, Joe says instead that Bakemon can be defeated by "mind over matter" and simply repeats "Bakemon, lose your power." over and over again. Hurray for religious intolerance. We see this issue brought up again during the Vamdemon saga, so I'll probably mention it again when that time comes.
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All that's left is Takeru and Patamon, who wind up near the Village of Beginnings. When a digimon passes away, it's data, like a "soul", is reconfigured here and is reborn as a digi-tama (digimon egg). Takeru and Patamon have a grand time playing with the baby digimon that have hatched from the eggs, but they are then discovered by Elecmon, the village caretaker. Thinking that they're hurting the babies, Elecmon attacks. He and Patamon fight awhile until Takeru, not a fan of needless fighting, gets them to resolve their differences with a game of tug-of-war instead. Patamon wins, and Elecmon conceeds. He forgives the two for their intrusion and leaves again. Left alone with the babies again, Takeru and Patamon don't notice Leomon glaring down on them from the cliffs above...
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Not a whole lot happened in this episode action-wise. There ware a few points about the dub worth noting, though.
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The Village of Beginnings was changed to Primary Village.
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The note saying to rub the digi-tama was written in Japanese, but the dub called it "digi code". Oi. That's almost as bad as when the Sailor Moon chicks called it "funny symbols". What the hell was wrong with just acknowledging it was Japanese?
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Elecmon's name is retained. His attack was changed, from "Sparkling Thunder" to "Super Thunder Strike".
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Leomon attacks Takeru and Patamon. The latter tries fighting him off, but to no avail. Things seem grim when Ogremon joins the battle and corners them, but Yamato and Taichi arrive in the nick of time with Garurumon and Greymon. But Devimon then sends a large cluster of black gears that Leomon absorbs, causing him to grow in both size and power. He seems to have everyone beat, when Koushiro and Mimi arrive as well, telling Taichi and Yamato about the digivices. They shine the light of the digivices on Leomon, ridding him once again of their dark spell. Ogremon retreats. Later, Leomon tells them of the legend that humans will save their world when it's in peril, known as the "Chosen Ones". Believing that means that they'll be able to go home once the evil is vanquished, the group sets off to defeat Devimon. Sora and Jou arrive at this point as well. But Devimon has absorbed Ogremon as well as his remaining gears to grow to an awesome size with devastating power that overwhelms all of the Chosen's digimon. He now turns his attention to Takeru. Patamon tries to protect Takeru, but still feels utterly helpless in the face of this threat. His determination pays off however, when he finally evolves to Angemon. Angemon draws the power from everyone's digivices, and uses every vestige of his power, sacrificing his life to ultimately strike a moral blow at Devimon. Devimon simply gloats however, telling everyone that there are other dark digimon across the sea even stronger than he is. Finally, he dies, as does Angemon, assuring Takeru that he will return. Angemon is reverted to a digi-tama, which Takeru accepts, promising to take care of it. Before much else is said and done however, the holographic image of an old man suddenly appears before everyone...
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Whew. This makes up for the last episode, as a lot of stuff happened in this one. But there's remarkably little to talk about as far as the dub was concerned.
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This may have been mentioned in other episodes, but this one sets the change official; the "Chosen Ones", or "Chosen Childeren", is changed to "Digi-Destined" in the dub.
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A bit of an edit was made where Leomon is attacked by Ogremon, who pops out of Devimon's body briefly. He originally comes out of Devi's back, smacks Leomon to the ground, pops out of his leg, and blasts Leomon into the distance. In the dub, he shoots Leo into the horizon when he initially appears from the back.
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Angemon's Heaven's Knuckle was changed to him just yelling "I'll stop you!!" in a really cheesy manner. In later episodes, the attack is shown to be officially changed to "Hand of Fate".
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