Digimon Adventure S01E06

The kids sing their way through the sewers, inadvertently attracting the ire of some passing Numemon, who are notorious song critics and trolls. The Numemon chase them out of their stinky haven into the horrible open air, where the kids wander until they come across some vending machines. To everyone’s horror, Mimi purchases additional Numemon from every vending machine (she has a lot of quarters), and the Numemon still feel the need to make it known that they don’t want to listen to song clips or parodies; they just want regurgitation of information they could get by listening to the songs themselves, but they want someone else to do it for them for free. The children flee in annoyance and find themselves at Toy Town, where everyone except Mimi and Palmon are brainwashed into childlike joy and good times. Mimi finds the washer of the brains, Monzaemon, and has Palmon digivolve into Togemon to beat him into submission until her friends can no longer experience happiness ever again. The Numemon’s whinging helped.

(4 sec) A doll pops up from under the surface of the water and floats away, making a few squeaky doll noises.

… Where did it even come from..?

[In less doll-infested parts of the sewers…]
No dialogue.
Mimi: “Of all the strange things that happened to us on Digimon Island…”

“Digimon Island”?

Mimi: “… I never expected to find a secret admirer in the sewers.”

Whe– where else would you find one?!

[Singin’ in the sewers!]
Children: “𝅘𝅥𝅮 I remember my faraway hometown 𝅘𝅥𝅮” (tooi furusato omoidasu) 「遠いふるさと思い出す」
Taichi: “Okay, Digimon Team, the ‘su’ from ‘omoidasu’ (remember)!”
Tai: “Okay, everybody, let’s sing the song that Agumon wrote for us!”

Is there a worse idea?

Digimon: ” 𝅘𝅥𝅮 Sour is not – sour is not a stepping stone to success 𝅘𝅥𝅮 ” (suppai na ~ suppai na wa seikо̄ no moto wa ja nai – nai!) [酸っぱいな～ 酸っぱいなは成功のもとはじゃない ‐ ない!]*
Agumon: “Okay, Children Team, the ‘i’ from ‘nai nai nai’!'”
All: “Digimon eat and Digimon fight, Digimon digivolve and fight all night.”
Palmon: “Singing sure is fun!”
Agumon: “Now let’s try some solo performances, starting with Mimi.”

Wow. There was a worse idea!

_{*’suppai‘ is “sour”, and this is a pun on the Japanese idiom “shippai [失敗」 wa seikо̄ no moto” meaning “failure is a stepping stone to success” (literally, “failure is a thing of success”).}

[‘i’??]
Taichi: “‘i’??”
Sora: “‘i’??”
Yamato: “‘i’??”
Jou: “‘i’??”
Tai: “Mimi??”
Sora: “Mimi??”
Matt: “Singing??”
Joe: “Mercy!”

You’ll all see! In 19 episodes, you’ll be BEGGING her to sing!

[Mimi nails it]
Mimi: “𝅘𝅥𝅮 Someone who can’t 𝅘𝅥𝅮 ” (ikenai hito) 「い～けないひと」
Jou: “What’s that…?”
Mimi: “It’s an Enka song my dad likes to sing in karaoke.”
Takeru: “I don’t know that song.”
Mimi: “Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roooooooam!”
Joe: “Avoiding your drone!”
Mimi: “Hey, come on! I had music lessons for three years.”
TK: (innocently) “Oh, you did? Did it help?”

Well, I thought it was lovely!

Koushirou, with the freaking singing voice of an angel: “𝅘𝅥𝅮 For now, nothing 𝅘𝅥𝅮 ” (ima wa nani mo) 「今は何も」
Izzy: “Ha! Mimi, you should get a refund – that’s what I think.”

Izzy, don’t be a turd. The refund period is only 30 days!

Sora: “Oh, I know that one!”
Taichi: “Me too!”
Children: ” 𝅘𝅥𝅮 For now, nothing 𝅘𝅥𝅮 “
Sora: “Then let’s sing as a group!”
Tai: “Let’s go!”
All: “‘Digimon fight and Digimon fly, Digimon digivolve an–‘”

Hey, speaking of refunds, can we talk about Agumon’s song-writing classes?

The kids are playing a variant of the game shiritori (しりとり), in which you take the last syllable of a word and come up with a word that starts with that syllable. The next person does the same with the word you came up with. Only nouns are used, and if you end a word with the syllable 「ん」 (“n“), you lose because 「ん」 is a terminal character — it can’t start a word.So if you start with the word “shiritori” (which you shouldn’t, because it’s not a noun), the next person takes the ‘ri‘ at the end and thinks of a word. Example: shiritori –> risu (squirrel) –> suisei (comet) and onward. But if someone had picked 「すいえん」”suien” (pancreas) instead of “suisei“, that person would have lost because it ends with 「ん」.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiritori

The singing version the kids are playing is choosing a line from a song, and the next person starts a line from another song beginning with the previous song’s ending syllable. If everyone in the group knows the song, they sing it together. Agumon sang a line that ended with the syllable i 「い」, prompting shock and horror from the Chosen Children, who apparently don’t know many lyrics starting with the character.

[SUDDENLY]
Sora: *screams*
Sora: “Ahh! Stop it!”

Singing together was your idea!

[It was just some gross sewer water that dripped onto her]
Sora: “Some water fell on me…”
Koushirou: “Your shirt is dirtied.”
Sora: “Yeah…no…uh…”
Sora: “Well, some water fell from up there…”
Izzy: “That made you scream?”
Sora: “Yeah…no…uh…”

“NO, I didn’t scream, YOU screamed!”

Sora: *wipes it off* “… I want to do laundry…” *laundry flashback*
Sora: “I used to sing at home.” (over laundry flashback) “I used to sing to myself all the time when I would do my chores, especially when I’d hang clothes to dry outside. I’d sing really loud ’cause… nobody could hear me then.”

Your neighbors beg to differ.

[Takeru reminisces about video games]
(No voice-over for the flashback).
Yamato: “Takeru, this isn’t the time to be thinking about video games!” *laughs at his brother and his adorable child priorities*
T.K.: “I wasn’t far from beating Matt in my video games…”
Matt: “‘Beating’ me, T.K.?! ChYEAH, I don’t think so! MAYBE IN YOUR DREAMS, KIDDO!” *laughs at his brother and his young, vulnerable self-esteem*

With that, Matt never won in another video game again in his life. He retired in shame and disgrace.

Yamato: “I shouldn’t laugh at him… What I want… sizzling yakiniku…” 「焼肉」 (barbecue; literally ‘grilled meat’)
Matt: “Well, now that you mention it, I’ve… been dreaming about Sunday… when mom grilled STEAKS.”

Matt lives with his dad, and Takeru lives with their mum, so how did Matt know about the steaks??

Mimi: “I want to drink an ice-cold Cola!”
Mimi: “I miss going on vacation! Nothing beats having a cold drink on a summer day at the beach! I just love the ocean air!”

You are on vacation; that’s what summer camp is! You even went to the beach a few episodes ago!

Koushirou: “I want to e-mail my friends on the Internet.”
Izzy: “Get a grip! I miss accessing satellites to look at stars and the planets.”

Izzy doesn’t have friends, and when he runs around telling other kids to “get a grip” during moments of nostalgia, it’s no wonder why.

[Reminiscing over]
No dialogue.
Agumon: “They really do come from another world!”

Good job, Agumon.

[Strange noises begin!]
Tentomon: “…th-those voices…”
Tentomon: “Quiet! Listen, everyone! The background music suddenly got ominous!“

[The strange noises are coming from everybody’s favorite…]
Jou: “‘The most hated’..?”
Joe: “Then what do you say we leave? Or am I the only one who doesn’t want to get stomped by stinky sewer-dwellers?!”

They can’t stomp, Joe, and they’re like knee-high at tallest. Relax!

Narrator: “Numemon: weak slug Digimon that reside in dark, clammy places. They attack with their own *ick*… poop.”
Mimi: “These sewer-dwelling Numemon were, like, totally hygiene-deficient! They love throwing ‘Nume-sludge’ at you, and they have bad breath, too…”

“Nume-sludge” is poo.

“Sludge” will be the dub’s adaptation of “poo” forever. Need to go to the bathroom in the dub? I got bad news for you, and no amount of fiber can help.

As the Numemon fire their fecal matter at will, the original background music is comical and playful, which is an amusing contrast to the kids’ horror at the situation.

In the dub, the background music is dramatic and tense, which is an amusing contrast to the fact that they’re having doo-doo thrown at them.

[They successfully flee]
No dialogue.
Mimi (voiceover): “Thank goodness! We finally escaped those Numemons once we got outside!”

Since all Digimon names are their singular and plural form, this implies there were more than one type of Numemon in the sewer, which makes everything much worse.

… there were not multiple Numemon types. The dub will shake the habit of pluralizing ‘Digimon’ and their names with ‘s’ eventually.

[Walking scenes]
Mimi (voiceover): “We didn’t see anything else for miles until we saw the strangest thing…”

And we didn’t hear that line until we heard it!

[They come to a flourishing field of vending machines]
No dialogue.
Mimi: “There must be thousands of them!”
Joe: “I’d say under a hundred.”
Izzy: “OR maybe just fifty.”

You fool! Vending machines kill 13 people each year on average, and we’re outnumbered!

Palmon: “Mimi… you can’t possibly want a drink, do you?”
Mimi: “Of course I do!”
Tai: (off-screen) “Mimi, they probably don’t work. Don’t you remember the phone booths?”
Palmon: “Hey, that could be! I bet it’s a trick, Mimi!”

This is how we die.

Mimi: “I won’t accept that!”

[Mimi runs towards her sweet cola reward]
Sora: “It can’t be helped; she’s still a child.”
Sora: “You can’t stop her; she’s so stubborn!”

Oh, right, Mimi’s 10. Haha, normal juvenile behavior!

[After reaching for her prize, Mimi finds only the opposite of her prize]
Numemon: “Hey, Sis!”
Palmon: “Numemon!”
(Numemon laughs a bit)
Numemon: “Hey, cutie-pie! HYUH HYUH!”
Palmon: “It’s their leader!”

You can tell because all the others look exactly like him!

Mimi: “Their leader?! He couldn’t lead a pack of show poodles, even with his doggy breath!”

This Numemon calls Mimi “big sister” 「お姉ちゃん」 (oneechan). It’s common in Japan for younger children to call older kids “big sis” or “big bro” 「お兄ちゃん」 (oniichan), and assbags sometimes catcall or otherwise annoy women using the same – sort of like how assbags in the US use “baby” or even “mama” (not “baby-mama”, though) when bothering strange women.

---

The voice(s) for the Numemon is that classic, comical cartoon voice in both versions, just with each culture’s different interpretations.

[The Numemon asks Mimi out on a date, and Palmon assesses the situation]
Palmon: “Mimi, he’s hitting on you. What are you going to do?”
Palmon: “I think he likes you. It’s gotta be the hat!”

It’s creepy how Palmon doesn’t seem to have a problem with a feces-flinging slug putting the moves on her partner. You wanna step in, Palmon? Maybe run defense?

Mimi: “Eh? Nothing, of course! Why would I date that guy?!” [‘konna yatsu’ 「こんなやつ」, which is literally “that guy”, often meaning someone who is ‘beneath’ the speaker]
Numemon: “‘That guy‘?! NOW I’M ANGRY!”
Mimi: “What? What are you thinking? I wouldn’t go near that short, slimy, sewer-sliding sludge-slinger!”
Numemon: “How dare you call me short?! The date’s off!”

Don’t let anyone shame you for your height, Numemon! You have so many other things to be ashamed of!

---

In the dub, the Numemon call out, “party time” as they charge forth from the sewers and throw their excrement at children, and that is why you should never accept an invitation to a Numemon party.

And the Numemon that was being a creep to Mimi calls her a “heart-breaker” and a “jilter” in the dub, which would be amusing because she was never even polite to them, but creepy assholes ruin everything.

Palmon’s lack of use of Poison Ivy is accompanied by the victory theme in the dub even though she didn’t do anything. There was no background music in the original scene.

Narrator: “Monzaemon: a stuffed animal Perfect-level Digimon. His special attack, Lovely Attack, makes even his enemies happy.”
Mimi: “Monzaemon looked like a cute, big old teddy bear, but he wasn’t very cuddly…”

You didn’t even try!

His attack is localized to “Heart Attack”, which is as fatal as it sounds. He also targets his attacks in the dub, i.e. “Heart Attack: those two,” so he can choose who lives and who dies.

His name is correctly pronounced “Mon-za-eh-mon”, sounding like “Monz’eye’mon” when said quickly. The dub pronounces it “Monzehmon” and “Monzymon” interchangeably.

---

His Japanese voice is deep and smooth-sounding, and when he walks, there’s a fun pounding sound that accompanies his steps. In the dub, it’s just a crashing sound.

In the original media (the virtual pets) Monzaemon was renamed “Teddymon” presumably to Americanize it. It’s interesting (and a little odd) that the dub opted for the Japanese instead, since it typically prefers to do the opposite whenever it can.

Dub Palmon’s explanation of Monzaemon is mostly accurate, but she adds in that he takes care of “abandoned Digimon toys”. They’re human toys.

Monzaemon: “Princess, we’ve been waiting for you.”
Monzaemon: “I must say: so pleased to make your acquaintance!”

“Princess” (ojousan 「お嬢さん」) is a common term of endearment for young girls. She hasn’t ascended the throne yet!

[Monzaemon proceeds to shoot lasers from his eyes at them, as any good host would, and they flee. He strolls leisurely after them.]
Monzaemon: “It’s an honor to meet you!”
Monzaemon: “Why are you running? Did I startle you? Sorry!”

Just don’t let it happen again.

Palmon: “Something must have happened to Monzaemon!”
Mimi: “We should have met him before that!!”
Palmon: “Something’s wrong! He’s never acted like this!”
Mimi: “He is now!”

Listed because the original line was so good. Also because Palmon wouldn’t know.

[A Numemon appears to offer shelter!]
Numemon: “Oneechan, over here!”
Numemon: “Come here, Cookie! I’ll protect you!”

Is this a different Numemon, or is the one from before just really indecisive?

Monzaemon: “Let’s play together!”
Monzaemon: “How about a kicking game of soccer, you two?”

[Monzaemon passed by their hiding ditch harmlessly]
Numemon: “Hey, sis, will you go on a date to Toy Town with me??”
Mimi: “I won’t!”
Numemon: “Since I saved you ladies, now will you go out with me??”
Mimi: “No!”

Numemon: “Sis speaks like a beast…”
Numemon: “Wow, she’s so feisty! What a girl!”

Oh, Numemon. Don’t worry. One day, you’ll find a… similarly androgynous digital life form just waiting for you to sweep… it… off its… foot.

Slug foot

[Mimi and Palmon find their friends running around like weirdos, their partner Digimon nowhere near]
Koushirou: (running by) “This is pleasant, this is pleasant. There’s nothing so pleasant.”
Mimi: “That doesn’t look pleasant at all…”
Izzy: “Oh joy. What a delightful activity. This activity is really delightful.”
Mimi: “…Hey, Izzy doesn’t talk like that.”

I choose to interpret that as an in-joke referring to the fact that Izzy does talk like that.

[Jou is being chased by one of those drinky bird things]
Jou: “The best! This is the best ever!”
Joe: “This really rocks! Forget books – this really rocks!”

[Takeru is being chased by a toy helicopter out for blood]
Takeru: “Banzai!” (x4)
T.K.: “Ha ha!” “You can’t catch me!” (x4) “Ha ha ha!”

Mimi: “It looks like everyone lost their emotions. Why?”
Palmon: “It’s strange. Agumon and the others should be with them.”
Mimi: “That’s weird. Everybody sounds like a bunch of zombies. How strange!”
Palmon: “They do.”
Mimi: “Oh well. They always were a little weird.”

Yeah. At least they’re having a good time!

Mimi and Palmon see the Digimon box through the window:

In the dub, we can distinctly hear Agumon yelling, “Hello? Can anyone hear us out there? Hello? Tai?”

In the original, the box is rattling with some cries of discomfort, but no coherent pleas for help.

(3 sec) The boxed-in Digimon explain how they came to be boxed-in. Before we see Sora and Piyomon’s flashback, there’s a shot of the inside the box.

It’s surprisingly spacious inside.

[Still in a flashback, Monzaemon has captured everyone with his Lovely Attack]
Monzaemon: “The Digimon will go in the toy box. The children will have their emotions erased and become toys for the toys!”
Monzaemon: “So all of you will now serve us! You’re all going into our community toy box! Our toy box is only filled with children!”

Well, you did it wrong!

Mimi recalls Yamato and Jou running around like fools outside. In the dub, she misremembers what Joe yelled:

Jou: “This is the best!”
What Joe actually said: “Forget books – this really rocks!”
What Mimi remembers him saying: “Who needs books?”

I think we were all pretty shocked by Joe’s statement and wanted to forget.

[Back in the present]
Palmon: “What happened to Monzaemon?”
Palmon: “Agu, tell us. What changed Monzaemon?”

No, it’s “Agumon”, not “Agutelluswhatchangedmonzaemon”. Common mistake; they sound very similar.

[Agumon et al cannot break out of the box]
Gabumon: “Before us, go help Yamato first!”
Gabumon: “It’s UP to – you TWO now! You MUST be – the HEROES this time!”

You’re doomed.

Palmon: “How?”
Piyomon: “You have to beat Monzaemon!”
Palmon: “Just what do you mean?”
Biyomon: “You must defeat Monzaemon!”

Biyomon is doing a ghosty drawl when she says her line for some reason. I dig it.

Palmon: “What should we do?”
Mimi: “I don’t know either.”
Palmon: “We have to do this.”
Mimi: “Oh, do we have to?”

You could just leave them in the box. What are they going to do about it?

---

[Back outside]
Palmon: “Monzaemon’s Lovely Attack is happiness-filled hearts. It’s supposed to be a happy attack.”
Palmon: “Monzaemon’s hearts aren’t supposed to attack — only give heart hugs, which give people such a good feeling that it makes them want to help others.”

Then why does he call it “Heart Attack“?

[Takeru runs by, still being chased and yelling ‘banzai’]
Mimi: “Where’s the ‘happy‘ in that?”
Mimi: “This is so ridiculous.”

See? She gets it!

[Monzaemon finds them and offers them some balloons]
Mimi: “Whatever! I don’t know what happened to you, but you can’t just take my friends’ emotions! Give them back!”
Mimi: “Hey, Yeti Petty! Whatever you’ve done to my friends, fix it NOW! You’ll be in big trouble! You understand me?!”

Seriously! You can’t let them run around after they just had heart attacks!

[He then offers them lasers from his eyes, and they run]
Monzaemon: “Please enjoy yourselves!”
Monzaemon: “Now, now! Don’t run away from Toy Town!”

What, now you decide to start following medical advice?

[The Numemon have arrived to “help”!]
Palmon: “Numemon… why?”
Mimi: “The Numemon are fighting for my sake…”
Palmon: “You turn him down, and he still helps!”
Mimi: “Well, Palmon, what can I say? When you’ve got it, you’ve got it!”

And “it” is terrible.

Mimi: “Even though all they can do is throw poop…”
Mimi: “Oh no, I don’t think the Nume-sludge is working.”

It’s kind of a shitty atta– oh.

[Monzaemon has unleased his Lovely Attack, but the Numemon formed a Nume-wall to shield Mimi and Palmon from it]
Palmon: “They can’t do anything, but they’re still desperately trying to protect Mimi…”
Palmon: “Time to take it to the next level! I may be a lady, but I am not a pushover!”

Thank you, Palmon. That has nothing to do with anything.

[Palmon evolves]
Just evolving.
Palmon: “Time to teach this Digimon some manners!”

[Togemon is ready to throw down!]
No dialogue.
Togemon: “You’re going down, big boy!”

Togemon: “You wanna dance with me?!”

Just teach him the manners already!

Togemon: Prickly Bang Bang –> Needle Spray

“Needle Spray” is the dub’s official attack name, but dub Togemon will add more words to the attack name. It’s because the original attack in Japanese is pronounced “CHIKUCHIKU BANBAN” 「チクチクバンバン」, so just saying “Needle Spray” doesn’t match up with Togemon’s mouth animation. In today’s episode, she called it “Digimon Needle Spray”, a variant which specifically sprays Digimon.

Because of this, she will often asks if her opponent would like the Needle Spray just before she attacks. She does not wait for their response.

[Togemon has knocked the literal stuffing and a black gear out of Monzaemon, then reverted back to Palmon]
Mimi: “Palmon! You’re wonderful!” *throat-hug!*
Palmon: “P-painful…”
Mimi: “Palmon, you’re fabulous!” *stem-hug*
Palmon: “My… stem is bruised…”

[Monzaemon explains how toys are carelessly discarded and broken, and how he, as the mayor of Toy Town, sought REVENGE to elevate their status]
Mimi: “The toy’s ‘status’?”
Jou: “Toys’ importance, I think he means.”
Monzaemon: “That’s correct. Toyed should not be toyed with; toys should be played with.”
Mimi: “How? By turning kids into zombies?”
Jou: “I don’t think he really intended to do that, Mimi.”
Monzaemon: “You’re right, Joe! I didn’t mean for that to happen. I REALLY am sorry about it! Please accept my apology I’ll never do that again! Really.”

Sounds sincere to me!

Taichi: “So that’s why you had us play for the toys.”
Monzaemon: “I’m sorry. I got carried away.”
Tai: “Monzaemon, we know that you would never hurt us on purpose!”
Monzaemon: “Of course not!”

I trust this mon.

[The black gear that came out Monzaemon finally gets around to breaking]
Taichi: “That gear must have been making Monzaemon act that way!”
Tai: “You know, I’m beginning to take this whole black gear thing a little personally! They cause a whole lot of trouble before disappearing!”

It’s all about you, isn’t it, Tai?

Mimi: “I understand Monzaemon’s love for toys!”
Palmon: “Yeah!”
Mimi: “That’s right, but me and Palmon made Monzaemon good again!”
Palmon: “We’re a great team!”

[Monzaemon will express gratitude with…]
Monzaemon: “This is my true… LOVELY ATTACK!”
Monzaemon: “HEART ATTACK… WITH A HUG!”
*EVERYONE DIES*

HURRK

x.x