My Digimon Story: A Tribute to Philece Sampler
Mediummon digevolve to — oh wait…
Almost two months ago, when I learned about the death of Philece Sampler, Mimi Tachikawa’s (in the case of Digimon Adventure 02, Iori “Cody” Hida, and in the case of the BlazBlue series, Taokaka) first English voice actress, I was shocked. As I’m sure many of you have been since I first watched Digimon back in the days when I was around ten years old. But there’s something surreal about this, and I still have trouble believing it. I suffered my own share of loss over the years. I lost my aunt back in mid-2018 to cancer, and three years later, I lost my uncle due to illness.
I’m going to tell you my story on Digimon as this will be the first non-retro gaming post on Shinkansen Retrogamer on Medium. So here we go:
Digimon Adventure
The first order of business is Digimon Adventure, also known as Digimon: Digital Monsters. The chosen children were Taichi “Tai” Kamiya (called Taichi Yagami in Japanese), Yamato “Matt” Ishida, Sora Takenouchi, Koshiro “Izzy” Izumi, Mimi Tachikawa, Joe Kido, Takeru “T.K.” Takaishi, and Kari Kamiya (called Hikari Yagami in Japanese). Their Digimon partners are:
- Agumon (Tai’s partner)
- Gabumon (Matt’s partner)
- Biyomon (Sora’s partner; Piyomon in the Japanese version)
- Tentomon (Izzy’s partner)
- Palmon (Mimi’s partner)
- Gomamon (Joe’s partner)
- Patamon (T.K.’s partner)
- Gatomon (Kari’s partner; Tailmon in the Japanese version)
Wikipedia describes the first season:
On August 1, 1999, seven children are transported into the Digital World by Digivices that appeared before them at summer camp, where they befriend several Digimon (Digital Monsters). The kids’ Digivices allow their partner Digimon to Digivolve into stronger forms and combat enemies. As the kids explore to find a way home, they learn that they are “DigiDestined”, children chosen to save the Digital World. During their adventure, the DigiDestined are hunted by a demonic Digimon named Devimon, who uses black gears to corrupt various Digimon into attacking the group. After defeating Devimon, the DigiDestined are contacted by Gennai and instructed to reach the Server Continent to retrieve artifacts called Crests, allowing their Digimon partners to Digivolve into their Ultimate forms. But the group are targeted by Etemon once reaching Server before Tai and MetalGreymon defeat him, only to be sucked through a vortex to the real world.
Tai and Agumon manage to return and reunite the group when they were being kept apart by DemiDevimon, a servant of Myotismon who seeks to enter the real world to kill the 8th DigiDestined member. The DigiDestined follow after Myotismon’s forces to their home of Odaiba, with the 8th child revealed to be Tai’s younger sister, Kari and that Myotismon’s lieutenant Gatomon is her Digimon partner. Following a series of battles, Agumon and Gabumon are able to finally defeat Myotismon with their Mega forms they gained via through Warp Digivolution to defeat him.
When the boundaries between the human and Digital Worlds begin to intersect, the DigiDestined return to the Digital World to face the Dark Masters, a quarter of mega-level Digimon who each took control of a part of the Digital World. In the midst of their battles, they learn that they were chosen to save the human and Digital Worlds from encountering Digimon in the human world four years ago. But tension leads to infighting within the group and causes them to temporarily separate. After reflecting, the DigiDestined reunite to defeat Piedmon, the last Dark Master, and confront Apocalymon, who attempts to destroy both worlds. Apocalymon destroys their Crests, but the DigiDestined realize the power of their Crests were inside them all along and manage to defeat him. With the Digital World restored, Tai and his friends leave their Digimon partners behind and return to their normal lives.
People still don’t get why Tai and Matt would fight a lot, I would yell out to them, “DAMMIT! THAT’S ENOUGH! DO YOU TWO WANT TO GET PULVERIZED?” and “What the HELL is wrong with you two?”, well, they really need to know what they would use the word pulverize is when they get angry, but that would be considered violent in real life. Also, it was aired on the now-closed Fox Kids in the US and YTV in Canada until the summer of 2000, and some of the episodes were censored for North American broadcast.
We also watched Digimon: The Movie in theatres, and later rented it from the now-defunct Blockbuster Video back in 2000.
Digimon Adventure 02
The second season of Digimon gives us Daisuke Motomiya (Davis Motomiya in the dub, later carried over in LEK which will be talked about later), Miyako Inoue (Yolei Inoue in the dub, though her name is pronounced “yoh-LEE”, and is the only female DigiDestined who has a male Digimon partner), and Iori Hida (Cody Hida in the dub), T.K. and Kari remained. Ken Ichijouji, who was initially the Digimon Kaizer (Digimon Emperor in the dub) joins the new DigiDestined later on. The new DigiDestined’s Digimon partners — except T.K. and Kari — are:
- V-mon (Daisuke’s partner; Veemon in the dub)
- Hawkmon (Miyako’s partner)
- Armadimon (Iori’s partner; Armadillomon in the dub)
- Wormmon (Ken’s partner)
Wikipedia describes the second season:
Four years (three years in the Japanese version) after the events of Digimon Adventure, the Digital World is invaded by the Digimon Emperor, who is enslaving Digimon with the Dark Rings while building Control Spires that negate Digivolution. To fight him, three new DigiDestined are recruited, each gaining an ancient Digimon for a partner. The three, along with T.K. and Kari, each possess a D-3, a new type of Digivice that allows them to open a gate to be transported to the Digital World through any computer. They are also given D-Terminals that hold Crest-themed Digi-Eggs that allow their Digimon partners to undergo Armor Digivolution to counter the presence of Control Spires. The Digimon Emperor, revealed to be boy genius Ken Ichijoji, flees to the Digital World. Assisted by Ken’s partner, Wormmon, the DigiDestined defeat Ken.
While the DigiDestined rebuild the Digital World, Davis, Yolei, and Cody unlock normal Digivolution. At the same, they ally themselves with a reformed Ken, who joins the team to fight Arukenimon, a Digimon who revives the Control Spires as other Digimon. When the Control Spire Digimon prove to be stronger than them, the DigiDestined learn DNA Digivolution, which enable two champion-level Digimon to merge into a stronger ultimate-level one. When Arukenimon creates BlackWarGreymon, he begins to destroy each Destiny Stones, hoping to fight Azulongmon, who appears when each Stone is destroyed. After BlackWarGreymon flees, Azulongmon warns the DigiDestined about an impending threat behind Arukenimon and Mummymon.
During Christmas, Control Spires appear across the human world, bringing Digimon with them. While the DigiDestined set off with Imperialdramon to destroy them with the help of the international DigiDestined, Arukenimon and Mummymon begin kidnapping several children for Yukio Oikawa, a friend of Cody’s father who dreams of entering the Digital World. Once the DigiDestined return to Japan, they fight the Daemon Corps, and their leader, Daemon, while Oikawa uses the Dark Spore inside Ken to implant them into the children. After imprisoning Daemon in the Dark Ocean, BlackWarGreymon returns to redeem himself after a battle between Imperialdramon and WarGreymon. BlackWarGreymon sacrifices himself to seal the portal to the Digital World at Highton View Terrace, before Oikawa and the kids can transport there.
The DigiDestined are transported to a Dream World with Oikawa and the kids and learn he was controlled by Myotismon. Myotismon splits from Oikawa and uses the energy from the Dark Spores to be reborn as MaloMyotismon. With help from the DigiDestined all over the world, the DigiDestined defeat MaloMyotismon and Oikawa sacrifices himself to rebuild the Digital World. Twenty five years later, humans and Digimon live together.
Unfortunately, the second season’s final episode became lame, as the DigiDestined are now in their mid-late twenties/early thirties and have children. We also moved back to Pokémon when Fox Kids started airing Digimon Tamers as it looked more like crap, which replaced all of our favorite DigiDestined for the first two seasons and we also skipped Frontier and the others after that.
Digimon Adventure tri.
Digimon Adventure tri. brings back our favorite DigiDestined fifteen years after the second season of Digimon ended on Fox Kids, and some of the Japanese cast has been replaced, including Suzuko Mimori who now voices Sora Takenouchi after the death of Yuko Mizutani, her first voice actress in mid-2016, and Natsuki Hanae who now voices Tai Kamiya, replacing Toshiko Fujita who later died of breast cancer in late 2018.
The film series is set three years after Digimon Adventure 02 and takes place in 2005. A mysterious anomaly is causing distortions in the Real World and Digimon are being plagued by a virus that turns them hostile. These circumstances lead to the eight original DigiDestined being reunited with their partner Digimon. Joined by a mysterious DigiDestined named Meiko Mochizuki and her partner Meicoomon, they are set to solve the mystery of the infected Digimon and deal with the responsibility of growing up.
Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna
Last Evolution Kizuna gives us the DigiDestined from both seasons as they are young adults (though Cody Hida is still in high school). Originally scheduled to have a limited release in the U.S. by Fathom Events, the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on cinemas. The film was released in the U.S. on home media formats in October and received extremely positive reviews. Critics considered the film to be a satisfactory conclusion to the Adventure arc, praising the story, voice acting, animation, and mature themes. Nicholas Roye takes the role of Matt Ishida, replacing Vic Mignogna following sexual allegations back in 2019. I have to say, T.K.’s outfit (below) looks dope!
On May 28, 2018, the original Director of Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02, Hiroyuki Kakudo revealed he had quit the staff of Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna after something was approved that he claimed was incompatible with what the previous series had established. On September 20, 2020, Producer Yosuke Kinoshita stated that Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna is in continuity with Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Adventure 02: Digimon Hurricane Landing!!/Transcendent Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals, and Digimon Adventure tri. This included the end of the final episode of 02, set in 2028, where the DigiDestined are adults.
Digimon Adventure 2020, stylized as Digimon Adventure:
The 2020 reboot of the original series had all the characters’ clothes changed (e.g. Tai wearing BAPE-styled sneakers, Izzy wearing socks with sports sandals, and Matt wearing a purple T-shirt with sleeves…). The majority of the Japanese cast has been replaced, including Eureka Seven star Yuko Sanpei and Tekken star Ryoko Shiraishi who now voice Tai and Sora respectively. This is also the first time that the reboot will remain undubbed and it is streamed on Crunchyroll. Izzy wearing socks and sandals makes him dope!
Update 2022/07/02: The 2020 reboot of Digimon is being dubbed, but we don’t know what the new cast (other than Zeno Robinson — Pokémon’s Goh and Big City Greens’ Remy Remington, and Benjamin Diskin — Puyo Puyo Tetris’ Lemres and Codename: Kids Next Door’s Numbuh One and Numbuh Two) would sound like.
Update 2023/04/20: Mimi Tachikawa is now voiced by Suzie Yeung in the reboot, who is one of Philece Sampler’s successors, as none of the original English cast from Adventure and Adventure 02 have returned to reprise their roles in the reboot.
In conclusion
Rest peacefully, Philece, you’re with Michael Lindsay, Bob Papenbrook, and Robert Axelrod now… you will be missed…
Looks like fellow catgirls Ms. Fortune (Skullgirls) and Felicia (Darkstalkers) should attend the “catgirl virtual funeral,” along with BlazBlue characters… maybe Palmon should join the virtual funeral?
Anyway, thanks for reading, and I’ll see you later.
Cory out.
