Digimon Adventure S01E40

After murdering Matt and Tai (they got better), the Chosen Children activate their Crests and use their combined rainbowy power to destroy VenomMyotismon for good. Unfortunately, the resulting power vacuum throws the Digital World Health Department into chaos, and all of the regulations that maintained safe and sanitary work places in the Digital World have gone to shit, as indicated by the fact that the sky has spilled over into the Real World.

The Digidestined return to the Digital World to find out who is responsible for this disarray, and they run into their old acquaintance, Chuumon, who informs them that the “Dark Masters” are responsible for said disarray. On cue, the Dark Masters arrive and introduce themselves. In their ongoing quest to deregulate safety and health practices, they attempt to murder the Digidestined, but they are thwarted by both Chuumon and, later, Piximon. They murder those guys instead.

[Sweet, new friends!]
Freaky Clown Digimon: “Those fools wear masks of fear as they wait eternally for the time of judgement. It’s wonderful. Truly wonderful!”
Danger Noodle Digimon: “Fools! It’d be better to do it suddenly!”
Puppetary Digimon: “Their flow of time is different from ours. We should take our time, like him.” [“Him” is Mugendramon; the camera is panning up to him]
Freaky Clown Digimon: “The Chosen Children will be returning soon. Our time of boredom is at an end. Now, let us leave the dressing room! The stage is set! The title is ‘The End of the Chosen Children’!”
Freaky Clown Digimon: “Those two-bit players are frozen with stage fright, hopelessly waiting for the moment they’ll be saved! And yet, there’s an unseen twist in the plot.”
Danger Noodle Digimon: “I say we cut to the punchline and go straight for the action!”
Puppetary Digimon: “Oh, please! That would be boring. I want to play this drama to the hilt! Let’s pull out all the stops and give ’em what they payed for!”
Freaky Clown Digimon: “I’m in complete agreement. A quick victory would be a let-down. The DigiDestined will be on Spiral Mountain soon. We muse rehearse before they get here. It will be their final performance! MetalSeadramon!” *Metalseadramon* “Puppetmon!” *Puppetmon* “And Machinedramon!” *Machinedramon* “I present to you the downfall of the DigiDestined!”

Cool, so we get the names of 3/4 of our new baddies right out the gate in the dub.

Pinocchimon is renamed to Puppetmon in the dub for reasons unknown. Maybe they didn’t want people thinking this violent little weirdo was associated with Disney. Or maybe they just thought it was a stupid name. The world may never know. Pinocchio and the story The Adventures of Pinocchio are public domain.

Machinedramon is Mugendramon in the original. Mugen 「無限」 means ‘infinity’.

[The Children arrive in the Digital World]
Taichi: “Are we back?”
Mimi: “I think we’re back…”
Tai: “Well, it looks like we’re back!”
Mimi: “Back where? In the Digital World?”

On THE MOON– no, wait. Digital World. I knew we should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque…

[Sora directs their attention upward, where they see…]
Taichi: “H-Hokkaido?!”
Yamato: “Is that Earth?”
Koushirou: “Just like how we could see the Digimon World on Earth, we can see the Earth from here!”
Tai: “Talk about weird!”
Matt: “Could that be earth?”
Izzy: “It’s merely speculation, but it seems to be a reasonable facsimile. We see Earth from here like we saw the Digital World from Earth!”

So: not a facsimile (exact copy), then? At all?

[Jou hears something]
Jou: “Gomamon? What are you doing, Gomamon?”
Gomamon: *pops his head out of Jou’s bag* “Jou! I’m over here!”
Jou: “Eh? Then what’s over here?”
*Chuumon attacks Jou’s face and knocks him over*
Gomamon: “Jou!”
Joe: *hears nothing at all* “Huh? Gomamon? Hey, where are you?”
Gomamon: *in the bag* “Joe, I’ve been snoozing over here!”
Joe: “Huh? Oh, we’ll just save the world without you, then!”
*rabid Chuumon attack*
Gomamon: “Joe!”
Joe: “I didn’t need this.”

No, but you deserved it.

Oh, so now we have to watch everyone evolve behind Gomamon running? And it can’t go any faster? Cool, cool…

[All the Baby forms have evolved to kick some Chuumon ass, but Chuumon barely has an ass to kick. Hikari gently coaxes him out]
Mimi: “You’re right! He’s the Chuumon we saw on File Island!”
Mimi: “He looks terrible! What he needs is a complete makeover!”

I’ll get the nail polish!

---

Dub Mimi adds a voice-over for the flashback of Sukamon and Chuumon: “something bad happened; Sukamon and Chuumon used to be inseparable,” which is true, but not relevant to the impending makeover.

---

[Gomamon accidentally left Jou HANGI– OW]
Jou: “Gomamon, lend me a hand! I can’t pull myself up!”
Gomamon: “You say lend a ‘hand’…” *looks down at his claws*
Joe: “You forgot? I’m hanging here by my elbows, and you’re off in la-la land!”
Gomamon: “Gee…I wonder what it’s like to have elbows…”

Eh. Fair.

[Taichi runs up and sees Jou dangling]
Taichi: “This is…! J-Jou! Climb up, quick!”
Tai: “Joe? Figures! Hey! Quit fooling around!”

Always hanging off of cliffs over certain doom…

[The ground is shakey-shakin’ and splitting apart]
Yamato: “Wh-What’s with this place?”
Matt: “What’s happening? Everything’s gone wacko!”

It’s cute that Matt picked up Jennai’s old man slang.

---

[Meanwhile, Koushirou is looking for Gennai]
Tentomon: “How’s it goin’ with Mr. Gennai?”
Koushirou: “I still can’t reach him.”
Tentomon: “Are you trying to get a hold of Gennai?”
Izzy: “Well, I’m not playing Solitaire!”

Why is everyone so cranky this episode? You just got back to the Digital World after the battle of a lifetime– oh, right.

[Meanwhile, Mimi et al are waiting for Chuumon to wake up]
Palmon: “He seemed relieved after seeing your face, Mimi.”
Piyomon: “He must have gotten by on just willpower.”
Sora: “Poor thing.”
Palmon: “Chuumon’s a mess! I wonder what happened to him.”
Biyomon: “Well, whatever it was, it wasn’t very pretty!”
Sora: “The poor thing.”

Yeah, where are we on that makeover? Most of this nail polish is the glitter kind, but I think we can make it work!

[Chuumon wakes up! It’s really Mimi!]
Mimi: “Yes. Just what happened?”
Palmon: “Is Sukamon okay?”
Chuumon: “He… died.” *sobs*
Mimi: “Poor thing. Why don’t you tell Mimi all about it!”
Chuumon: “Oh…”
Palmon: “What happened to your friend Sukamon?”
Chuumon: “I…I…I’m afraid I lost him!” *sobs*

Ugh. He probably fell under the couch again. I’ll get the flashlight…

Nevermind. He’s dead.

[Flashback]
Chuumon: “After Mimi and everyone left File Island, Sukamon and I were living peacefully.”
Chuumon: “After you guys left File Island, Sukamon and I went on with life as usual. You know: eating, eating, and more eating!”

Yep, that’s the life!

[After the flashback, in which Chuumon totally ran ahead of his legless friend and then acted all surprised that he fell into a pit and died]
Chuumon: “Some places here and there are wreckages of what they had long been, but most of it has been pulled into that mountain. It’s called Spiral Mountain.”
Chuumon: “Aaaahhh! Everything’s been discombobulated and taken apart! The Digital World has been relocated way up there! It’s called Spiral Mountain!! There’s nothing left here of the old world except some ruins!”

Listed for “discombobulated”. I mean, sure, he used it correctly and all, but come on…

Jou: “I can’t believe the Digimon World has changed so much…”
Joe: “Color me cynical, but nothing surprises me about this place.”

I have glittery cyan. Close enough?

[Where are the other Digimon?]
Chuumon: “I don’t know, but I’ve heard that everyone who goes against ‘them’ is defeated!” *cowers*
Sora: “Who?”
Chuumon: “The… Dark Masters.”
Chuumon: “I don’t know! But from what I’ve been told, ‘they”ll destroy anything that tries to get in their way!” *cowers*
Sora: “Who will?”
Chuumon: “‘Who’?? The Dark Masters!”

Don’t take a tone, Chuumon! Your statement was ambiguously worded, and you know it!

Taichi: “Then those Dark Masters must be the ones we have to fight.”
Tai: “Well, they couldn’t be too much tougher than anybody we’ve wrestled with before!”

Tai, that is… not how any of this works…

Chuumon: “Fight?! No way, you’ll never be able to beat them!”
Chuumon: “No way! They’ll beat the pants right off of you!”
Tai: “Not if I’m not wearing pants!”
Chuumon: “That’s even worse!!”

Mimi: “It’ll be okay! As long as all eight of the Chosen Children are together, we can save the world!”
Mimi: “Don’t worry about it! As long as the eight of us are together, we’ll keep those big bullies away from you!”

Yeah! Nothing more to it! Everything’s going to be ooooka–OH COD

METALSEADRAMON OUT OF NOWHERE!!!

Narrator: “MetalSeadramon: an Ultimate Level Digimon whose entire body is made of Chrome Digizoid, the strongest metal. He bears immense power and maximum speed.”
Chuumon: “This guy has one real hard nose – and I mean hard nose! Take my advice: this is one train you would rather miss!”

I’m surprised they didn’t mention the Chrome Digizoid thing. It sure sounds stupid enough for the dub. They’ll bring it in for a later episode, though.

Chrome, or chrome plating, is a layer of chromium added to the outside of a metal object. Chrome plating often uses or produces hexavalent chromium (hex-chrome/Cr⁶⁺), which is toxic, which explains why MetalSeadramon doesn’t have many friends. Hopefully the “Digizoid” component of the metal helps reduce the chromium’s oxidation state to a safe level.

Anyway, don’t go swimming while he’s around.

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

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

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MetalSeadramon’s dub voice is… weirdly normal. Like he’s just some guy with a bit of a Northeastern American accent. Not a healthy guy, though. Sounds a little congested.

[MetalSeadramon’s swoopery has knocked them all over]
Yamato: “How is he so fast with that oversized body?!”
Matt: “Okay, if that’s the way you want it, we can play rough, too!”

To be fair on this line change (not to Matt; his line sucks): MetalSeadramon’s body is pretty hydro/aerodynamic, and serpents in general are usually pretty fast. His size wouldn’t encumber him that much.

Cool, so we get to watch them all evolve again for the fight. This is a great use of time…

“You know what? Maybe this was a bad idea…”

[Metalseadramon is kicking their tushies]
Metalseadramon: *laughs* “You think you can win against me?”
Mimi: “Why? It’s eight against one!”
Koushirou: “MetalSeadramon is an Ultimate Level Digimon! No matter how many there are, Adult-levels can’t win against him!”
Taichi: “An Ultimate Level?!”
Jou: “Why did such a strong one have to come out right away?!”
Metalseadramon: “You’re finished!”
MetalSeadramon: “You should know your powers aren’t strong enough!”
Matt: “How come he’s beating us so badly?”
Izzy: “Ah! It’s because he’s a Mega Digimon, and even eight Champions can’t overtake one Mega! He’s stronger than all of us combined!”
Tai: “Then we’re lost without more power!”
Joe: “Ever notice that we’re always at the wrong place at just the wrong time?”
MetalSeadramon: “Now it’s time to take one nasty ride!”

Wait, what is the right time to be up against a monster stronger than all of you combined?

MetalSeadramon’s attack, Ultimate Stream, is called “River of Power” in the dub, which sounds like it helps offset his eco-unfriendliness!

“Just because my existence poisons the ocean doesn’t means I don’t support sustainable energy!”

[MetalSeadramon’s attack knocks the Children to next Tuesday, and Angemon checks in on Takeru]
Takeru: “I’m okay. Thanks, Angemon.”
T.K.: “I thought I was broken, but I guess I must be okay!”

HA! … I mean, yeah, of course…

MUGENDRAMON OUT OF NOWHERE!!!

Narrator: “Mugendramon: a powerful and power-wielding Ultimate Level Digimon. His special attack is Infinity Cannon.”
Izzy: “He’s called Machinedramon. This metallic mutant can blow out a Digimon just like a birthday candle!”

Oh! Happy birthday, Machinedramon!

Machinedramon’s dub voice is very similar to his original voice, and he doesn’t end up with an Northeastern accent. He’s not as machine-sounding as Mugendramon, but he pulls off the “evil machine” feel well enough!

Oh, cod, do we have to watch all of them super-evolve now?! Jeez. That’s a solid minute and a half we’ll never get back…

[Mugendramon blasts them all into the ground – literally. The Children fall down the resulting pit until they stop in mid-air in some weird, unfurnished void]
Koushirou: “We stopped!”
Mimi: “Where is this? What happened?”
Izzy: “We stopped.”
Mimi: “I can’t complain. It’s sure a lot better than falling on our heads!”

[Garudamon and WereGarurumon start barely punching each other]
Yamato: “What are you doing, WereGarurumon?”
Sora: “Stop, Garudamon! You’re on the same side!”
Matt: “Hey, can’t you two take a break for one minute?”
Sora: “Yeah, come on! We’re all supposed to be on the same side!”

Uh… is this a regular occurence off-screen? They don’t sound too confused.

[Now the Children’s bodies are moving on their own]
Jou: “Wh-What’s going on?”
Joe: “I’ve always hated any form of exercise! What’s happening to me?”

For all the “nerdy/weak kid” crap they give Jou: he gets a TON of exercise between all the walking and being-able-to-scale-cliffs-in-seconds…

PINOCCHIMON OUT OF UP THERE!!!

Narrator: “Pinocchimon: the ‘Number One on having a bad personality’ Ultimate-level Digimon! His special attack is Bullet Hammer.”
Izzy: “Puppetmon has a controlling personality and a rotten temper. Get him mad and he’ll bop you with his hammer!”

Rude!

Pinocchimon has a normal, cute, child-like voice in the original. In the dub, his voice is nasally and… uh… whiny? So also like a child, but not a cute one. It’s weird. He also has a weirdly Northeastern American accent.

Bullet Hammer is changed to Puppet Pummel.

Mimi: “Why do these Ultimate Digimon keep coming out one after the other?”
Mimi: “If you have to hit something, you should bop yourself for how you look in that stupid helmet!”

You tell ‘im, Mimi!

Pinocchimon: “Now… Fly to the last stage! You guys [their Digimon] can join them!”
Puppetmon: “I’m gonna hafta letcha go for now! I promise to destroy you!”

Okay… don’t forget…

---

[They were tossed over to a regular clown, who told them a story. It was pretty good. Not a best-seller, but decent.]
Regular Clown: “I just told you your destiny from here on! You should be grateful.”
Regular Clown: “Oh, dear. I’m so sorry! Did I happen to mention the story is true? I wanted to give you a preview of the plot.”

That was the entire plot, you spoiling JACKASS!

PIEMON OUT OF RIGHT OVER THERE!!!

Narrator: “Piemon: an elusive* Ultimate Level Digimon. His real identity is shrouded in mystery.”
Chuumon: “Ah! It’s Piedmon! He’s a Mega Phantom Digimon of the worst kind! You never know what he’s going to look like next!”

Seems to be just clowns so far, so…

Piemon‘s name comes from pierrot, the classic French pantomime. His name is pronounced accordingly: “pi-eh-mon”, not as in the delicious baked pastry.

His name is changed to “Piedmon” in the dub, a reference to either every city named Piedmont, all of which are entirely populated by clowns, or the act of having a pie thrown in one’s face (i.e. being pied in the face), an action often imposed upon or performed by clowns.

If you live in a city called Piedmont, feel free to leave a comment confirming this information.

His dub voice is…uh… pompous? Flamboyant? Like a clown but without any joviality or whatever that stuff is. Also like a sassy butler. So like a sassy clown butler. The worst kind of butler, but the best kind of clown. It suits him!

Oh, right, he sounds kind of like Vademon from episode 24. They do not have the same voice actor, though! Vademon was voiced by the late Robert Axelrod, and Piedmon is voiced by Derek Stephen Prince.

His original voice is oddly gruff considering his appearance and theatrical personality. I don’t even know what to compare it to. It’s a little jarring at first.

NO, WAIT! I figured out what to compare it to! You know how old cartoons have guys doing French impressions with that throaty “HON HON HON” laugh? He sounds like a guy doing that, but all the time.

Now it’s hilarious and awesome.

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* Piemon’s Digimon Analyzer description is shinshutsukibotsu 「神出鬼没」, meaning “elusive”, and it comes from a Chinese idiom translated to Japanese. In Japanese, it also means “appears and disappears unpredictably”.

The Chinese idiom means “Gods appear and devils vanish”. While the Japanese kanji is the same as the Chinese hanzi (kanji is derived from hanzi), the pronunciation is different in each language.

https://www.linguee.com/japanese-english/translation/神出鬼没.html

http://www.standardmandarin.com/idiom/literally-Gods-appear-and-devils-vanish-idiom-to-appear-and-disappear-unpredictably

[Taichi is ready for battle!]
Taichi: “No way we’re gonna lose to you guys!”
Tai: “Well, I think your plot needs a few re-writes!”

I think this script needs a few re-writes…

Speaking of needing re-writes, “Hey, Digimon” plays after Agumon and Gabumon Warp-Evolve.

Taichi: “Go, WarGreymon! Show him our power!”
Yamato: “MetalGarurumon! Take him down and save the world!”
Tai: “Yeah! Let him know we mean business, WarGreymon!”
Matt: “MetalGarurumon! Teach that joker a lesson he’ll never forget!”

“Because he’ll be dead and therefore unable to– yeah, where are we on that re-write?”

Dub WarGreymon says “Nova Force” when he uses Gaia Force. It was called “Terra Force” before. Dub MetalGarurumon calls Cocytus Breath “Ice Wolf Claw” when it was previously “Metal Wolf Claw”. Still no use of claws in either.

Piemon’s attack, Trump Sword, retains its name.

Don’t say it or think it. It’s a card reference.

[Piemon throws four swords at WarGreymon and MetalGreymon, but only two of them hit, which is a pretty sad accuracy rate and probably why he has to throw twice as many swords as he needs to. ANYWAY, Sora laments that even with two Ultimates on their side, they’re fucked]
Mimi: “The enemy’s also an Ultimate, isn’t he?!”
Mimi: “Not to mention he’s a fashion disaster!”

To each her own, but that lipstick is on fleek!

---

Before Piedmon introduces his co-workers, he refers to their act as a “comedy of errors“. I like that interpretation of this arc.

---

Pinocchimon: “Personally, I wanted to see a little more fun!”
Puppetmon: “You thought you were through with me, BUT… I wanted to have some more fun!”

Piemon: “Time flies in the blink of an eye when you’re having fun! Now then… Whom should we finish off?”
Piedmon: “We would like to begin with asking for audience volunteers. Who wants to be the first to be destroyed?” *doesn’t wait for any volunteers* “Oh, come now! Don’t tell me you have stage fright!”

I wish they didn’t use “destroy” as their euphemism for being killed. It really doesn’t help.

[Piemon looks over at Mimi]
Mimi: “No… No…! I’m just an ordinary grade schooler! Why do I have to die in here?!”
Sora: “Mimi…”
Mimi: *crying D:* “To be more fashionable, to eat more delicious foods, to travel overseas, and to…”
Mimi: “I didn’t even want to go to camp in the first place! I just wanted to go to the mall! Can’t somebody else save this silly world besides me?”

No.

Sora: “Mimi!”
Mimi: “I want to be a normal kid and not have any big responsibilities! I mean, come on, is that too much to ask? It’s not fair!”

Poor Mimi. Get on one wrong bus, and you’re saving the world from sassy clown butlers instead of saving at a kick-ass sale. 🙁

[Chuumon gets deaded saving Mimi from Piemon’s attack]
Chuumon: “Mimi… When I’m reborn… go on a date with me…”
Mimi: “No.”
Chuumon: “Mimi… It’s time for me… to be deleted.”

Uhhh… wow. Way to make that scene worse.

“Dead with the potential for rebirth and a new life” is now “deleted, either by Shift+DELETE, or by moving to the Recycle Bin, then right-clicking the Recycle Bin and selecting ‘Empty Recycle Bin'”. Tough break, Chuumon!

I know the network wouldn’t have let them get away with “kill”, but I feel like “delete” is worse – like you’re erasing someone rather than them just… not being alive anymore. “It’s time for me to be reborn” would have been softer and more accurate.

Piemon: “That just makes two deaths, doesn’t it?” [i.e. she still gonn’ die]
Taichi: “Damn it… We’ll never forgive you for this!!”
[The Dark Masters laugh]
Piemon: “Well, who’s next?”
Piedmon: “So, now that he’s out of the way, who would like to be the next one to make their grand exit?”
Tai: “Piedmon, you’re going to be washed up when we’re through with you!”
[The Dark Masters laugh]
Piedmon: “Be my guest!”

… what?

Piccolomon’s Bit Bomb had been changed to “Pixibomb: Seek and Destroy!” in the dub, but its name is “Pit Bomb” in this episode.

[Piccolomon to the rescue!]
Taichi: “We came all this way believing that as long as the eight of us are together, we could save both our worlds! What…?”
Tai: “But you said it was possible to save the planet if the eight of us were all together! How come it’s not happening? Huh? What’s up, Piximon?”

He never said that. Actually, nobody said that. Ya’ll just assumed.

[Piccolomon tells them that being together is not enough]
Sora: “What are we missing?”
Jou: “Please tell us!”
Sora: “How are we going to find out if you won’t help?”
Joe: “Yeah, enough riddles!”

He JUST got here! Give him a minute!

[Nevermind. The Dark Masters caught up to them]
Piccolomon: “Unfortunately, there isn’t time!”
Piximon: “This is something you will discover on your own.”

Okay, nevermind. You’re right, and he sucks.

[Piccolomon has smacked away the Children-containing barrier bubble thing with his staff]
No dialogue.
Gabumon: “He’s stronger than he looks!”
Matt: “He’ll have to be.”

R.I.P. Piximon.

The dub moves the shot of the Chosen Children witnessing the battle from the end of the episode to after Piccolomon smacks them away.

[The Dark Masters catch up to Piccolomon]
Piemon: “You’re Piccolomon, aren’t you? Do you really believe that a Perfect-Level like you can win against us?”
Piccolomon: “Say what you want!”
Piedmon: “How can such a powerless little Digimon even think about defeating us, hm?”
Piximon: “Just call me a crazy little Digimon!”

All those years of making children do his housework is finally about to pay off!

Oh.

[8 sec] The dub cuts out the explosion and moves the following scene to after Piccolomon smacks them away. Hikari’s line is changed accordingly:

Hikari: “Now Piccolomon died…”
Kari: “… Do you think it’s possible he can do it?”
Gabumon: “… I don’t know, Kari. I hope so!”

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!

… I mean… I’m sorry for your loss…