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Digimon Tamers

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Digimon Tamers
Digimon Tamers
デジモンテイマーズ
(Dejimon Teimāzu)
GenreAction, Adventure
Anime
Directed byYukio Kaizawa
Written byChiaki J. Konaka
StudioToei Animation
Released April 1, 2001 – March 31, 2002
Anime
Battle of Adventurers
StudioToei Animation distributor:
Paramount Pictures
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
ReleasedJuly 14, 2001
Anime
Runaway Locomon
StudioToei Animation distributor:
Paramount Pictures
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
ReleasedMarch 2, 2002
Related works

Digimon Tamers (デジモンテイマーズ, Dejimon Teimāzu) is the third animated series based on the Japanese Digimon franchise, first broadcast in 2001 on Fuji TV in Japan and on CBS in the United States. The story takes place initially in a "alternative" universe, a world much like ours where Digimon is just a franchise, composed of video games, a collectible card game, and a cartoon series. A group of 12-year-olds (10-year olds in the Japanese version), Takato, Henry and Rika (fans of the Digimon card game) meet their own Digimon friends and start to duel "bio-emerging" Digimon who cross the barrier between the information network, synthesizing proteins and becoming real. Most of it is set in the modern Shinjuku ward of Tokyo, Japan and only changes scenario to the Digital World for a short time.

Plot summary

One day Takato creates his own Digimon Guilmon when he slips a mysterious blue card he found in his deck through his hand-held card reading device, changing it into a D-Power (called a D-Arc in Japan), the Tamers version of a Digivice. The appearance and powers of this Digimon come from Takato's sketches that were scanned into the device. Guilmon bio-emerges from the Digital World and is found later by Takato. Henry meets his Digimon Terriermon when he rises from the screen of a computer game, while Rika's Digimon Renamon approached her to ask to be made stronger, since Rika was famous for her skills on the Digimon card game. Early in the series, the three Tamers and their Digimon duel foreign Digimon that are emerging into their world. Takato, Henry and their partners begin working together, while Rika and Renamon prefer to fight on their own; however, they all soon realize that much more is at stake during their battles and the six unite as a team. Other characters, Kazu, Kenta, Jeri (Takato's friends from school) and Suzie (Henry's little sister) become Tamers later on in the series, and Ryo (Rika's rival and legendary Digimon Tamer) is introduced after the team enter the Digital World. They also encounter two more Digimon, who become regular characters in the series: Calumon, a mysterious Digimon that has the power to make other Digimon digivolve, but dislikes fighting, and only wants to play and eat junk food, and Impmon, a Digimon that left his Tamers because he was sick of their bickering and selfishness, and thinks that all Digimon with Tamers are a disgrace.

Along the way, the kids learn to be responsible for those creatures as a mysterious man known as Yamaki tries to stop wild Digimon from coming to the real world. From the secret government agency called Hypnos, Yamaki was in charge of monitoring all Digimon activity around the globe. Later, when a series of evil Digimon calling themselves the Devas, who, serving the Digimon Sovereigns, believe that true Digimon shouldn't pair up with humans (it is later revealed they were actually misguided), the trio of Tamers and their Digimon defend their world against them. The Devas' true purpose for entering the human world was to capture Calumon, and take him back to the Digital World, so that they could use his power of Digivolution. The Tamers and their friends then decide to leave for the Digital World to rescue Calumon. They destroy all but one of the Devas (Antylamon turned to the side of good and became Suzie's Digimon partner) and confront Impmon, who had digivolved to his mega form, Beelzemon, after making a deal with the Sovereign for more power, in exchange for eliminating the Tamers. Jeri's partner, Leomon, is killed by Beelzemon, which causes Jeri to fall into depression. Beelzemon is defeated by Gallantmon. After traveling the Digital World on their quest, the Tamers meet (and fight with) one of the four Digital Gods, but finally agree to work together in order to destroy the D-Reaper, a computer program initially designed to keep digital life from getting out of control, but it itself became rampant. The Tamers not only must save both worlds from the D-Reaper, but also rescue Jeri, who has been taken by the renegade program and is, unwilling and unknown to her, feeding it information with her sadness. A huge battle ensues with Takato, Henry, Rika, Ryo and their Digimon versus the D-Reaper, with Takato trying to rescue Jeri while the others try to finish of the D-Reaper for good. After a massive battle, the D-Reaper is finally defeated when Henry and Terriermon implement a plan created by Hypnos and the Monster Makers and manage to devolve the D-Reaper back to its original, harmless state, and send it back into the Digital World. Takato and Guilmon succeed in rescuing Jeri, and everyone is rescued by Takato's friends Kazu and Kenta and their Digimon. The Digimon however, are forced to return to the Digital World.

Several new elements are introduced in this season, including the use of game cards in conjunction with the Digivices to give different powers to the Digimon, the presence of Calumon, a lone Digimon responsible for the Digimon evolutions, and the use of "biomerging" to bring the Digimon to their final Mega levels, by merging their bodies with their human partners. The season also continued the progression from Digimon Adventure, which was set in the Digital World with only a temporary return to the real world, through Digimon Adventure 02, where the characters returned from the Digital World to rest after most episodes: in Tamers the action is entirely within the real world, with a journey to the Digital World mid-season.

Episodes

For an overview see List of Digimon Tamers episodes.

Digimon Tamers aired 51 episodes on Fuji TV in Japan from April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002, and on CBS in the United States from September 1, 2001 to June 8, 2002.

Characters

Main article: List of characters in Digimon Tamers

Main characters

Character Voice actor Digimon Voice actor
Takato Matsuki("松木啓人")
Takato Matsuda (松田 啓人 Matsuda Takato)		 Sharon Gless (EN)
Makoto Tsumura (JP)		 Guilmon Mary Tyler Moore (EN)
Masako Nozawa (JP)
An imaginative young boy who created his own partner Digimon, and gradually emerges as the unofficial leader of the Tamers. He imagined Guilmon and brought him to life after discovering his Digivice.
Henry Wong
Li Jianliang (李 健良Rii Jenrya)		 Parker Posey (EN)
Mayumi Yamaguchi (JP)		 Terriermon Carol Burnett (EN)
Aoi Tada (JP)
A half-Japanese/half-Chinese boy, the voice of reason in the group. He chose Terriermon as his partner in a video game.
Rika Nonaka("野中理香")
Ruki Makino (牧野 留姫 Makino Ruki)		 Patricia Heaton (EN)
Fumiko Orikasa (JP)		 Renamon Kim Zimmer (EN)
Yuka Imai (JP)
A tomboyish, headstrong female Tamer who is a champion Digimon card player and initially the most experienced against fighting Digimon. She chose Renamon out of her desire for the strongest partner.
Ryo Akiyama
(秋山 リョウ Akiyama Ryō)		 Ray Romano (EN)
Junichi Kanemaru (JP)		 Cyberdramon Dan Rather (EN)
Ikkei Seta (JP)
An enigmatic tamer that went missing after beating Rika, and taking first place in the Digimon Card Tournament.
Jeri Katou
Juri Kato (加藤樹莉 Katō Juri)		 Candice Bergen (EN)
Yoko Asada (JP)		 Leomon Patrick Duffy (EN)
Hiroaki Hirata (JP)
A female tamer who is one of Takato's friends from school. She has a poor relationship with her father, as a result of her mother's death.
Kazu Shioda
Hirokazu Shiota (塩田 博和 Shiota Hirokazu)		 Loni Anderson (EN)
Yukiko Tamaki (JP)		 Guardromon Grant Aleksander (EN)
Yanada Kiyoyuki (JP)
A comedic tamer who is very good friends with Takato and Kenta, and often defeats them in the Digimon Card Game. He also idolizes Ryo.
Kenta Kitagawa
(北川 健太 Kitagawa Kenta)		 Mary Tyler Moore (EN)
Tōko Aoyama (JP)		 MarineAngemon Lynda Carter (EN)
Ai Iwamura (JP)
A Tamer who is very good friends with Takato and Kazu.
Suzie Wong
Shaochung Lee (李 小春 Ri Shiuchon)		 Meg Ryan (EN)
Ai Nagano (JP)		 Lopmon Vivica A. Fox (EN)
Aoi Tada (JP)
Henry's little sister, and the third youngest Tamer (after Ai and Makoto).
Ai and Mako
(Ai and Makoto)		 Julianne Moore & Lynda Carter (EN)
Haruhi Terada & Miwa Matsumoto (JP)		 Impmon Kevin Bacon (EN)
Hiroki Takahashi (JP)
Two young children whom Impmon first met during his first time in the human world; his experiences with their sibling rivalry gave him a strong dislike for humans. They reconciled with Impmon near the end of the season.

Digital World

Main article: Digital World

The Digital World is a parallel, shadow world that coexists with Earth, created as it was by it. This is where all Digimon live.

The Digital World that runs parallel to the Earth inhabited by Takato and the Digimon Tamers originally started out as a barren desert, which became home to the digital life forms created by the Monster Makers in the 1980s—the Digimon. Some organisms even evolved on their own from the Digital World, the DigiGnomes. But in the early days of life in the Digital World, it was attacked by the deadly D-Reaper deletion program, which had been created to destroy all artificial intelligence that moved beyond its limits. However, as it deleted many Digimon, it absorbed their data, and was mutated by it, gaining sentience and more power. It entered a period of inactivity, and buried itself away, deep beneath the Digital World.

Time passed, and four Digimon evolved into their highest stages, becoming the "gods" of the Digital World—the four Digimon Sovereigns, Azulongmon, Baihumon, Ebonwumon and Zhuqiaomon. The Digital World eventually grew to be composed of six planes. The earliest plane was the desert, while the sixth is the highest plane where the Sovereigns dwelled, along with the Shining Digivolution—the power source that provided the energy to allow Digimon to Digivolve. On the four planes in between are "miniverses"—specialized environments created by the Digimon that inhabit them. There are a great many of them, but ones seen included: an area of clouds and clockwork where Clockmon and Hagurumon lived, a warped, black-and-white town where the Nohemon dwell and a Knightmon patrolled its castle at night, an area of forests, lakes and rivers where Orochimon is a dictator over the Gekomon's village, a 'world' entirely composed of water and underground caverns within them where a Divermon lived and protected the Otamamon there, and a region of ice. Huge Data Streams connect the regions of the Digital World to Earth, as digital matter from the Digital World is manipulated and utilized by computers on Earth. In the void between the Digital World and the real world, there is a warped area where reality is in flux, and is defined only by the perceptions of those within it.

Movies

Battle of Adventurers

File:Digimon Movie 5.jpg

The Tamers are on summer vacation and split up to enjoy themselves. Takato visits his cousin Kai in Okinawa with Guilmon, Henry investigates an underwater meteor with Terriermon, and Rika stays behind with Renamon to defend their city from invading Digimon. An evil Digimon known as Mephistomon emerges and puts into motion a plan that involves the new digital pet craze known as the V-Pet to disable worldwide communications and allow Digimon to cross over freely into the real world. The only way to stop this lies within the body of Seasarmon, the Digimon partner of Minami, the daughter of the creator of the V-Pets. There's no rest for the Tamers and their partners as they fight their toughest battle yet to save the world. Early mistranslated promo information cemented the idea that this movie was out of continuity with the series, but in the finished movie, there is very little to suggest that this could be true. Given that Kai goes on to appear later in the series itself, and knows who Guilmon is at the time, would suggest that the movie is in continuity.

The Tamers' Digimon in their Ultimate-level forms (WarGrowlmon, Rapidmon and Taomon) create a new attack. It consists of the Digimon changing into a crystallized form and combining together to form a giant bird made of pure energy. This move has been dubbed the "Trinity Burst". It has not been seen outside the movie.

Runaway Locomon

File:Digimon Movie 6.jpg

Entitled Digimon Tamers: The Runaway Digimon Express in Japan, this takes place after the series finale (technically, six months after the D-Reaper was destroyed); in it, the Tamers are planning to throw Rika a surprise party, but their plans are derailed as they must try to stop a train-Digimon named Locomon, who is being controlled by Parasimon who has opened a portal to the Digital World that is allowing other Parasimon to cross over and invade the city. The movie served to provide insight on Rika, and also to confirm that the Tamers were, indeed, reunited with their Digimon partners after the series ended.

Chiaki Konaka states in his character notes (for Rika) that he "was not consulted" on Runaway Locomon, which possibly explains certain continuity errors. On this he also says: "However, ...Mr. Tetsuharu Nakamura [the director], [who was] an assistant director of the TV series... [and] Mr. Hiro Masaki,... a regular writer for the series... paid a great deal of attention to the psychological aspects of the series when completing the movie... I am very grateful to them for boldly illustrating the parts of Rika's family life that the TV series never explored."

Short Story

Digimon Tamers 1984

This short story, written by Chiaki J. Konaka and illustrated by Kenji Watanabe, was published in 2002 in Volume 5 of SF Japan, a Japanese science fiction magazine. Tamers 1984 was intended for a more mature audience, specifically the adult fans of Digimon Tamers, and focused on the creation of the original Digimon program by the Monster Makers at Palo Alto University in the United States. It revolved around the roles and thoughts of each of the Monster Makers, and dealt largely with the philosophical and technological issues surrounding the creation of artificial intelligence.

CD Drama

Digimon Tamers: Original Story, Message in the Packet

This audio drama[1] takes place sometime after the end of the series, but before the 2nd Tamers Movies (Runaway Locomon). The Tamers have yet to be reunited with their Digimon Partners, but the Monster Makers have discovered a way in which the Tamers may be able to send messages to the Digital World. However, it's not certain if it'll work, or if their Partners will receive their messages. But with the memories and love for their Partners guiding them, the Tamers each make their own emotional and heartfelt messages, hoping that their Partners will hear them. They talk about the past, their plans for the future, how they've changed, and most of all, how important they believe that their Partners were to them, and convey the hope and certainty that will meet up with each other once again.

Differences in the English dub

  • In the original Japanese version of episode three, "To Fight or Not to Fight", Gargomon becomes drunk with power after Digivolving and fires out of control. Two scenes are cut out during his rampage in the garage:
    • Gargomon's gun aiming at Rika's head (his arm is painted over, making it seem as if Gargomon is just looking at Rika).
    • Renamon scratches Gargomon over his eyes, drawing blood.
  • In episode 8 (English: A Question of Trust), two scenes were removed:
    • A very short scene was cut between a couple talking. The man took out a cigarette, and failed to get his lighter to work. Impmon offered him fire, scaring the couple away. In the English version, the cigarette part was cut, replaced only by the woman discussing how they wanted a fire to keep them warm, and Impmon offered his fire.
    • In the original, Growlmon's stray fireball blasted a part of a building. The small clip of the smoking building was removed, likely due to the resemblance of the 9/11 attacks [citation needed].
  • In episode 15, "Snakes Trains and Digimon", there are these edits.
    • The flag that Takato made has the Japanese words, "Digimon Tamers" changed to English.
    • The close-up scene of the theater sign is cut, because of the Japanese kanji characters that were on it[citation needed]. This was one of the few removals of Japanese writing in the dub.
  • Episode 23 (aired September 9, 2001 in Japan)
    • When Makuramon overloads Juggernaut scenes were edited of the Hypnos Tower exploding.
    • the scene of dark smoke rising from several of the tower's windows was edited mainly in response to 9/11 in the United States, while in Japan the episode was released two days prior to the attacks.
  • In episode 31, Kazu's Upgrade there is an edit for alcohol purposes
    • In the Japanese version, Orachimon demands to be fed sake, but in the dub it is change to milkshakes to avoid controversy.This causes Jeri's plan to feed milkshakes Orachimon to not make sense. [citation needed]
  • During the fight between Gallantmon and Beelzemon in episode 36, the scene where Beelzemon is aiming his shotgun at Gallantmon's head is edited (The gun is painted over as if Beelzemon's hands are still at his sides).
  • In episode 51, the final time Jeri got restrained by D-Reaper is different compared to the Japanese's version.
  • In the movie "Runaway Locomon", the Biomerging sequences are censored by flashes of light (this is the only time the biomerging sequences were censored in the dub, due to Paramount Television and MGM Television being owned by Sony Corporation of America and The CBS Corporation), as well as Gallantmon's graphic impaling of the main Parasimon's eye, Mega Gargomon blowing the Parasimon into pieces, and Gallantmon impaling a Parasimon and tossing it at another.

Theme songs

Opening theme
Ending themes
  • "My Tomorrow" (episodes 1-23)
  • "Days -Aijō to Nichijō-" (Days-愛情と日常-, episodes 24-51)
    • Artist: AiM
Insert songs

Credits

Japanese Cast as Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

English Cast as Biohazard 3 Last Escape

*All Characters listed here are referred to by their English Names.

English Movie Cast

Notes

  1. ^ English translation of Digimon Tamers CD Drama

See also

General

Locations

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