Plot: Three years after the end of Adventure 01, the Digital World comes under attack again – this time by a human threat known as the Digimon Kaiser. It’s up to a new team of Chosen Children, plus an older Takeru and Hikari, under the guide of the old Chosen Children to save the Digital World. We’re also introduced to the concept of Armor Evolving which is supposedly on par with or more powerful than Adult level (Adult seems to be more impressive to the group later on) through the power of Digieggs made by the old crests.
Preface: Ah, Digimon Adventure 02….how I both love you and have several issues with you. I love Ken, his storyline and the darker tone of the show. Armor Evolving is pretty cool. The new Digivices are neat. I also like how the old Chosen Children still get to do stuff, albeit minor, in this series.
….I don’t like the new Chosen Children, the Child Digimon or their storylines for the most part. I’ll explain more in detail through this series and in the main review, but for now let’s start at square one.
Most changes that were just carried over from Adventure 01 will likely not be included here for the sake of avoiding redundancy. Some might sneak in, though, just because my memory is awful.
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The original introduction to the new series was sentimental, and Takeru didn’t give much information beyond it being three years later. In the dub, the intro seems more upbeat, and TK explains what everyone’s up to lately. Tai’s in high school (a bit pointless to say that since most of the group is in high school now, middle school in the original) and that’s pretty much it. He still plays soccer, I believe, but you barely ever see him do it. Matt’s trying to be a rock star, Sora’s playing tennis a lot, Izzy’s in high school/middle school too, Mimi moved to New York and Joe’s still studying to be a doctor.
The opener, as the last season, was changed. The original song isn’t fantastic, but it’s okay. The new dub theme for this season is just a slightly modified version of the old theme. Basically exactly the same barring the inclusion of “Armor Digivolve!” in the middle.
Strangely, it seems like more clips were removed, added and rearranged for the dubbed theme. Last season, very few clips were omitted from the theme, if any, now there are numerous removed, some added and changed.
Basically most of the clips of Submarimon, Shurimon and Raidramon are removed, a shot of a crying Ken imposed over the Digimon Emperor is removed (wouldn’t want to preemptively sympathize with the bad guy), the ending animation with the kids running with their Digimon is replaced with a photoshopped title card and old shots from the previous theme were inserted.
As with Adventure 01, we get custom title cards each episode. This one has a silhouette of Davis and Veemon with the title The One Who Inherits Courage. Again, as with the previous season in the dub, we get no title cards and instead have the titles over scenes in the episode. This episode is Enter Flamedramon.
Title Card: 
TK’s mom doesn’t mention what her article is about in the original. In the dub, it’s about the historical significance of toilet paper….
Nitpicky, but the name boxes that show up when the characters introduce themselves are square in the original and long ovals in the dub. Also, obviously, the text is changed to English so kids can read it.
Subbed: 
Dubbed: 
Name Change: Miyako Inoue is changed to Yolei Inoue…..I have no clue why. Usually names are changed to make them easier to pronounce or change them to something more English sounding, but why Miyako to Yolei?
Also, because of her name change, she doesn’t explain that her name is spelled like Kyo in Kyoto, but is pronounced Miyako. In the dub, this is replaced by Yolei nerdily telling us precisely how long it takes them to get to school….To the best of my knowledge, she’s not as Izzy-ized as Izzy was in the previous series, but I’ve never seen the original version of this sooooo…
Name Change: Iori Hida is changed to Cody Hida….I’m not entirely getting these changes even further. In the first series, the changes had some connection to the original name. Matt for YaMATo, TK for TaKeru, Kari for Hikari, Izzi for Izumi (Koushiro) and Joe was just English-ized from Jo. What does Yolei have to do with Miyako or Cody with Iori?
Not to mention that Cody’s voice is awful. His original voice is just that of a regular kid. In the dub, his voice sounds incredibly raspy like he’s trying to quit smoking. He sounds more like Genkai from Yu Yu Hakusho than any kid I’ve ever heard. Cody is voiced by Philece Sampler who also voices Mimi!? Wait, wha? Mimi and Cody are voiced by the same person? Damn, that’s some range you got there, lady.
They edit out Miyako and Iori bowing in greeting to Takeru. I guess because that’s a Japanese custom, but they have no qualms showing tons of other Japanese stuff. Takeru’s must’ve been just shallow enough to keep in.
Miyako tells Iori that she’ll fix his computer if his mom makes ohagi, which are basically riceballs with various toppings. In the dub, Yolei says she’ll do it if his mom makes brownies.
Entire Series Change: Miyako’s catchphrase is ‘Bingo!’ Yolei’s is ‘Perfecto!’
Takeru says that Daisuke can’t be Taichi since he’s in middle school now whereas TK says Tai’s a much better soccer player than Davis. Look, I get that they both have goggles, but Davis and Tai don’t look very similar at all. Tai has giant crazy brown hair, Davis has moderately spiky way shorter maroon hair. Even their facial features aren’t very similar.
Name Change: Daisuke Motomiya is changed to Davis Motomiya
Hikari responds to Daisuke stating that they’re in the same class again by saying she’s glad to see him. In the dub, Davis says it’s great luck that they’re in the same class again and Kari says “I wouldn’t call that ‘luck’”
Daisuke said some kid said his goggles looked cool, but he didn’t even know him. In the dub, Davis says some new kid confused him with someone and that he probably thought he was a movie star.
It’s odd, in the original the teacher doesn’t introduce himself before he introduces Takeru, and he addresses Hikari by (last) name. In the dub, he has a name, and he calls Kari “The girl with the camera around her neck.”
Originally Daisuke is having inner monologue over the entire scene after it’s shown that Takeru and Hikari know each other. He’s just getting angry since Takeru seems to already know Hikari so well. In the dub, Davis only has inner monologue over the shot of him, and he’s acting like TK’s asking Kari out a date. When the scene switches to Kari and TK, we hear TK say he thinks the teacher looks like Ogremon.
Tai: *when Agumon reveals that he can’t Digivolve* “Did you forget how? It’s just like riding a bike. Now start pedaling and DIGIVOLVE!” Geez, Tai, pushy much? He said he can’t. Leave the poor guy alone.
Wait, where did Taichi get a D-Tector?
Originally, Miyako says she’s accidentally opening an email meant for Koushiro, but wonders why he’s getting one since he already graduated to middle school. I don’t even know how she has access to Koushiro’s email… She notes that it’s from someone named Yagami (Taichi’s original last name.) and recognizes that someone in her class, Hikari, has the same last name.
In the dub, she just opens the email like it’s hers and wonders about the message being “Come to the Digital World right away. The Digimon need our help!” She thinks it’s about some online game. She sees that the message is from Tai Kamiya and says there’s a girl in her class with the last name Kamiya so the email must be hers.
The text on the screen got translated to English.
Subbed: 
Dubbed: 
Daisuke says “Hey, you!” to Takeru which prompts Hikari to say “It’s not “you.” His name’s Takeru-kun.” Daisuke asks what Takeru’s deal is with Hikari. Takeru doesn’t understand so he laughs because he thinks Daisuke is joking. Daisuke gets frustrated and says it’s not funny.
In the dub, Davis calls TK “Buddy” to which Kari corrects him as the original version. Davis then mistakenly calls TK, “TJ or JB or whatever” and continues the conversation as per the original. TK laughs because he thinks Davis is jealous of him and Davis stews at the insinuation.
Most of the next segment with Koushiro explaining the email from Taichi is the same but there are two changes. 1) He never calls his D-tector a ‘computer’. While the wide range of that word technically does stem to PDAs, which is what I assume the pre-tweaked D-tectors were, most people don’t call every electronic device that has similar functions as computers ‘computers.’ Nitpicky, but still.
2) Izzy says his battery ran out because he was playing too much Trigonometry Trivia last night on the Internet. Izzy, I know you’re an uber nerd, but Trigonometry Trivia? Seriously? And there are really other people on the internet who would want to play that too? Knowledge is power and whatnot, but come on.
Again, the email is translated.
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Dubbed: 
Tailmon says that the Digiegg of Courage must’ve been there for a long time in the original. Gatomon says “It must’ve been rough on the chicken who laid that thing.” Now that I’m an adult and I know the full mechanics of chickens laying eggs…..yes, Gatomon…….It must’ve been hell. I will now cringe for a few hours. Excuse me.
Daisuke says that, since Taichi’s in trouble, they need to go to the Digital World as fast as they can. In the dub, Izzy just states that they’re going to the Digital World and Davis says he’s going too.
Davis once again mistakes TK’s name, this time TC, when Daisuke does not.
Daisuke says he’s going to the Digital World because he can go with his new Digivice. Koushiro says that’s true, as long as what he has is an actual Digivice. Davis asks if he can get Donkey Madness on his Digivice (Obvious poke at Donkey Kong) Izzy says the Digital World isn’t a game and that if he was really sent a Digivice it’s for a reason and he should take it seriously.
The color schemes of the Digivices never fully made sense to me. Davis’ is blue I presume because one of his Digieggs is Friendship, of which the crest color is blue. Yolei’s is red for her Digiegg of Love, but the others make no sense to me. Cody’s is yellow. That’s the Crest of Hope’s color, which is TK’s crest. Cody holds the Digieggs of Knowledge and Reliability, purple and gray, not Hope.
However, Cody’s Digimon is yellow, so I thought that might make sense, but then we get to Kari and TK. Kari’s new Digivice is pink, for the Crest of Light. Also makes sense. However, since Cody took yellow, TK’s new Digivice is green for the Crest of Sincerity. If we were going by Digimon color, Davis’, Yolei’s and Cody’s would make sense, but Gatomon’s not pink and Patamon’s not green!
During the trip to the Digital World, the dub adds in a song from Digimon’s soundtrack – ‘Here We Go’ by Jason Gochin. It’s a very frequently used song.
Another thing I never understood was the clothes changing. They explain it later in the series like their new clothes reflect their deepest wishes or something, but their outfits are just confusing. Davis has a fiery jacket and gloves, Yolei has a pilot hat, vest and old-timey pilot pants, and Cody has a plain beige shirt, which may or may not be martial-arts themed. This is supposed to be supported further by the fact that Ken got a cool Digimon Emperor outfit which disappeared when he became a good guy again.
However, it really just makes no sense to me. Yolei has no desire to be a pilot – she’s into computers. Though she may like flying through the air and has a bird as a Digimon, she’s shown no desire to be anything aviation related.
Cody’s outfit just MAY be martial arts related, I’m really unclear on that. Since Cody practices Kendo, this makes a little bit of sense.
But what’s up with Davis’ outfit? It really doesn’t change at all barring his jacket. Does he want to be on fire? We know he doesn’t want to grow up to be a firefighter or anything since he wants to open a noodle cart. And if that whole thing with the clothes does happen for whatever reason, why don’t TK’s and Kari’s and the old Digidestined’s outfits change when they go into the Digital World? They’re almost always wearing the clothes they had on when they entered the Digital world.
If anyone has any answers to this, feel free to offer up the information. I’ve watched this series several times over and have yet to make sense of it all.
As with the first series, the eyecatches for the commercial breaks are edited out. If they change in the future, I’ll update.
Daisuke doesn’t ask if all Digimon come from vending machines like Davis does.
Tailmon doesn’t make the joke that all Digimon will have to punch a time clock under the Digimon Emperor’s rule like Gatomon does.
Tailmon explains that since her Holy Ring (Tail Ring in the dub) was removed, she’s lost half her power….Well, that’s an unfortunate weakness, Green Lantern. And you weren’t even that powerful as an Adult/Champion level to begin with so that’s pretty sad. In the dub, Gatomon just talks about the Dark Rings.
Dub!Ken: *while trying to choose a Digimon to attack the group* “Einie, meenie, miney, mon!” *sigh*
TK: *in regards to the Digiegg of Courage* “It looks like a deflated beach ball!” …..Whaa? No it doesn’t. It looks like a Digiegg…..What….part of this, in any way looks even a little like a deflated beach ball?….Or even an inflated beach ball? In the original, Takeru just points out that the Digiegg has the Crest of Courage on it.
Ugh and here we get the little annoyance himself, Veemon or as he’s known in the original, V-mon….Because…I dunno. Look….I adore Digimon. It’s one of my favorite franchises ever, I’d even put it above Pokemon in terms of everything but games, but I just don’t much care for the second generation of Digimon.
They all seem more annoying than charming whereas none of the original Digimon seemed annoying to me. I also never felt the same connection between the new Chosen Children and their Digimon as the original kids or the Chosen Children in Tamers. Veemon in particular annoys me, especially in the dub, because his voice is awful. Granted, none of the new Digimon voices sound great, but Veemon’s is just grating to me.
V-Mon is changed to Veemon on the Index Screen.
Subbed: 
Dubbed: 
Also, as the last series, the Index screens are originally covered by a narrator. In the dub, Agumon does it this time, but a bunch of people and Digimon do it over time.
Veemon: “Tell me Davis, what hurts?”
Davis: “Everything but my earlobes.”
….Okay that was funny. Originally, Daisuke just thanked V-mon for saving him.
V-mon originally tells Daisuke over and over that he has to say “Digimental up!” to activate the egg. In the dub, Veemon never tells Davis that the trigger words are “Digiarmor Energize!” so I have no clue how Davis knew what to say. Maybe it’s like magical girl anime where the leads just inherently know what to say to call upon their powers.
Name Change: Fladramon is changed to Flamedramon. And the background words are changed to reflect this. (Also, just to be thorough, V-mon’s name in the Digivolution Screen is changed in the dub accordingly.)
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Dubbed: 
I will admit, as much as I dislike Veemon, I absolutely adore Flamedramon and Raidramon. I even have old toys of them that transform into the Digieggs of Courage and Friendship. And they’re both voiced by Steve Blum!……I hate Exveemon, though. A lot.
To get this out of the way, I’m ambivalent about both Hawkmon and Armadillomon. Hawkmon’s dub voice reminds me of Stewie from Family Guy, and Armadillomon is just forgettable and fairly lame with an annoying southern accent.
Halsemon’s really cool, Shurimon’s okay. Aquillamon’s a redder, male Birdramon rip-off.
Digmon’s ehhh, made all the worse by his relentless stream of puns in the dub. Submarimon’s so damn useless, but I enjoy the design. Ankyllomon is just a bigger version of Armadillomon with spikes.
I will never understand why they tried to make the concept of traditionally evolving the new team so fascinating. Their Adult forms are deep fried lame. Their Armor evolutions are so much better in terms of design and powers.
Fladramon’s Index screen is changed to reflect his English name.
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Dubbed: 
Common practice in the original series – there’s a vocal song when V-mon first Armor Evolves. In the dub it’s just regular music.
However, after we get a scene with Ken, the dub inserts the also common Digimon soundtrack song ‘Run Around.’
Wait, Daisuke gets a D-Tector after the Digiegg of Courage gets sent to his Digivice? Then where did Taichi and Koushiro’s come from?
All Wormmon says in the original is “Ken-chan.” In the dub he asks Ken what a ‘foe’ is.
Taichi doesn’t outright say that Daisuke’s the new leader of the Chosen Children in the original. It’s implied, and we all know because, well, goggles, but saying it is just a little insulting. Do they never get a say in this?
Gatomon/Tailmon: “The Digimon Emperor/Kaiser never appears at night.”
….Are you sure? Because in the first scene and the flashback Gatomon had both look like they take place at night. Maybe it’s just incredibly smoggy, I can’t tell with the art.
As with the original series, the ending theme and next episode preview are removed for plain credits on another showing of the dub opener.
I will say that the Dark Rings always seemed like a Black Gear rip-off, but at least we have a new and interesting enemy.
Next time, Miyako and Iori will get to do stuff, we’ll get to see Sora, and Miyako and Iori will get their Digimon as well as perform their first Armor Evolution.
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