Digimon Adventure S01E11

Joe and Gomamon attempt to set sail for the high seas only to be thwarted by scurvy and wayward shipping containers of hostile Digimon. Meanwhile, Sora’s fishing trip goes horribly awry when she snags not fish, but something fishy, which just turns out to be the aforementioned scurvy dorks. They elect Joe their new leader and set off for the perfect staging ground for a bloody coup, which is a nearby church. There, they find people dancing and celebrating, but when they casually inquire about ritual sacrifices, the party-goers mistake it as a request and happily oblige. Birdramon and Ikkakumon ruin everything by crashing the festivities, and at Joe’s humble suggestion, the participants and their abominable god die. Again. They were ghosts. Probably should have mentioned that sooner.

[Recap]
Narrator: “Devimon forcibly separated the Children. Among them, Yamato and Taichi, and Mimi and Koushirou were somehow able to meet up again. Then, of the three remaining, Sora and Jou…”
Mimi: “After we landed in the forest Palmon and I crossed over to another floating island where we found Izzy and Tentomon. While Izzy was busy doing something-or-other with his computer, Centarumon, with a black gear stuck in him, attacked! Izzy somehow started talking to me through my digivice and lead Tentomon and I to safety — well, almost. Our little partners digivolved just in time, driving out the black gear. Leomon, who was still under Devimon’s evil control, appeared, but Izzy and I used our digivices and shooed that bad kitty away!”

That’s a lot of words for missing so many important details… She could help me write my Summaries!

---

[Devimon stands atop a mountain alone, talking to himself like a weirdo]
Devimon: “Chosen Children, resent your destiny!”
Devimon: “I, Devimon, have completely separated those seven brats and their pesty Digimon… that is, until that Tai and Mimi caught up with Matt and Izzy, but I’ll make sure they never find their other friends! Especially with the plans I have for Sora and Joe on that lovely day, the Bakemon holiday!”

Now you may be thinking that’s a story change, since Devimon obviously doesn’t know the Chosen Childrens’ names, but he’s actually reading the above line from his memoir, which he wrote during production. Granted, he wasn’t supposed to read it on-air, but you know how actors can be.

His original line really was that short. He didn’t start talking until he appeared on screen and the shot moved to show his face.

---

[Elsewhere, Jou and Gomamon drift on a surprisingly sea-worthy bed in the middle of the ocean]
Jou: “This is why I said I didn’t want to go to camp!”
Joe: “There’s one thing I’ve learned in DigiWorld: beds don’t make good boats.”

That bed is doing a remarkable job as a boat.

[Gomaman has consumed all of the food and possibly other important items from Jou’s bag]
Jou: “Did you eat it all?!”
*Gomamon nods.*
Jou: “THIS IS WHY I SAID I DIDN’T WANT TO GO TO CAMP! I have to study for entrance exams to get into a prestigious junior high school next year!”
Gomamon: “Telling me that doesn’t do any good.”
Jou: “THEN WHOM WILL I TELL?! THERE’S NO ONE HERE BUT YOU AND ME, GOMAMON!!”
Gomamon: “Well, that’s true, but it’s better to float with a little more hope so we don’t get seasick, or bedsick–“
Jou: “WHAT GOOD DOES HOPE DO FOR SEASICKNESS?!?!”
Joe: “Did I just hear you eating again?!”
Gomamon: “Uh-huh.”
Joe: “Didn’t I tell you not to eat all the food since we don’t know when we’ll find land?! I told you that we’d need to ration, which means to save food for later, as in much later!” —
Gomamon: “But it is later, Joe; you told me that twenty minutes ago!”
Joe: “TWENTY MINUTES IS NOT MUCH LATER! PLEASE TELL ME THAT THERE IS STILL SOME FOOD IN THE BAG!”
Gomamon: “Well, no, since you can’t handle eating and floating on the ocean at the same time I ate it all besides I need food to digivolve in case we run into bad Digimon.”
Joe: “So?! Have we seen any bad Digimon?! NO! If I starve, who’re you gonna protect?! And don’t you dare use run-on sentences with me, young mon!“

[Jou stops suddenly, then moves to get sick over the side of the bed-boat]
Gomamon: “Are you okay?”
Jou: “I’m not okay.”
Gomamon: “Jeez, that’s why I said to have hope!”
Gomamon: “That’s enough about food.”
Joe: *groans*
Gomamon: “Things’ll get better soon. Hang in there, buddy!”

[A new challenger approaches]
Gomamon: “A box?”
Gomamon: “That crate is gonna hit us!”

BRACE FOR GENTLE IMPACT

Jou: “Maybe it has food! Maybe like canned food, or frozen food!”
Gomamon: “No way.”
Jou: “DIDN’T YOU TELL ME TO HAVE HOPE JUST NOW?!”
Gomamon: “Calm down…”
Joe: “Maybe it’s full of fruit, vegetables, bread, milk, cereal, hot dogs, cookies, candy, and soda?!”
Gomamon: “I wish.”
Joe: “YOU WISH?! WE WOULDN’T NEED MORE FOOD IF YOU HADN’T EATEN OURS.”
Gomamon: “You’re strong when you’re hungry.”
Joe: “Starvation is a good motivator. Looks like we’ll need a jackhammer to open this. Hmm, let’s see… um…”

[Joe: “Where’s the jackhammer tool on my knife… oh, wait: the English version censored my knife! DAMN YOU, SABAN!”]

Removing the need for task-inappropriate pneumatic tools, Ogremon bursts out of the crate and scares the bejeezus out of them.

And hey…

Ogremon had to get in that crate somehow.

The top bulged before he popped out. That thing was sealed.

So many questions are left wide open in this situation. Did he have help? Did he use waterproof Gorimon Glue to seal the top shut for this mission? Did he then have to rock the crate to tip it over to actually get into the ocean?

We can tell he had no visibility, no steering system, and no propulsion system. He sealed himself into a water-tight wooden crate, and he set himself adrift with a single purpose in mind: find this one (of seven), possibly-floating-in-the-ocean (how would he have known?*) Chosen Child, float to him, and then surprise the shit out of him.

And it worked perfectly.

The dedication. Masterful. Absolutely brilliant.

_{*DID he know?? Does this open up MORE questions about how he got in the box??}

Ogremon: “Sorry — not food!”
Ogremon: “Right, you little Digi-pest! Pummel Whack!”

There is something weirdly charming about Ogremon feeling the need to confirm that he is, indeed, not food.

Ogremon: “I’ll beat the Chosen Children!”
Ogremon: *laughs*

He hasn’t had fresh air in a while.

When he’s swinging his club at them, Dub Ogremon says “Pummel Whack” a couple more times in the dub. He’s not actually using a special attack in the original — he’s just swinging.

Gomamon’s Marching Fishes is “Come out of the sea, Marching Fishes” in the dub for this episode.

[Marching Fishes march upon Ogremon’s face]
Ogremon: “Wh-what are these guys?! Hey, stop it!!”
Jou: “A genuinely evil Digimon, Ogremon, is beaten by tiny ocean fish!”
Gomamon: “Ogremon is from the Great Canyon mountains. He should be weak to the smell of ocean fish!”
[Ogremon uses Supreme King Fist to thwart the fishes and laughs.]
Ogremon: “I’m not scared of some stinking fish! Hey! … On second thought, that really hurt!”
Joe: “What powerful force could cause this evil Digimon to be driven back and out-muscled by a bunch of small fish?”
Gomamon: “When the small and meek join forces to fight for a good purpose, they can often bring about the downfall of the big and powerful.”
Ogremon: “Yarr, get off me!” *SMACK SMACK SMACK*

The timing and *smack* sound effects are perfect here. A+

[Ogremon faces down the fish-summoners]
Ogremon: “You’re next!”
Ogremon: “And now, for you ‘meeks’!”

I miss when Ogremon was weirdly polite, though.

[Gomamon evolves into Ikkakumon]
Ogremon: *cries out in surprise before regaining his composure*
Ogremon: “You’re bigger now, I’m so scared! NOT!”

Ogremon: “Supreme King Fist!”
Ogremon: “Here’s some hand-to-hand Pummel Whacking!”

Uhh… you can keep it, thanks.

[Ikkakumon swims away with Jou on his back. Ogremon remains in his floating crate]
Ogremon: “What’re you doing?” *looks down and nopes* “Where are you going?! Wait!! Shit, I’m a hammer, so I can’t do anything…” [In Japanese, “hammer” is slang for someone who can’t swim.]
Ogremon: “GYAARRR” *looks down and nopes* “Go ahead and run! See how far you get! ‘fraidy-cats, come back and fight! I dare ya! Come on!”

Make up your mind!

[Jou and Ikkakumon flee from Ogremon, who is definitely now stranded in the middle of the ocean]
Jou: “That was scary… I knew coming to camp was a mistake.”
Joe: “Oh, man… I don’t like adventure. I’m a stay-at-home-and-read kind of guy.”

[Ikkakumon begins to sink for some reason]
Jou: “Ikkakumon!”
Ikkakumon: “I’m tired.”
Jou: “I see… You must have used all your energy in the fight just now.”
Ikkakumon: “I’m tired, hungry, sinking…”
Joe: “Sinking is bad… Ikkakumon! Hey, wait a minute! I thought you were supposed to be some sort of super water mammal!”

Yeah, Ikkakumon, what the hell?!

But also: the fact that fighting in their evolved forms take a lot of energy (Gomamon JUST ate) at this stage, and that they revert to their Child forms after using up their energy is important to establish and reinforce now. This goes along with the last episode, which established that the Digimon can’t evolve if they’re too far from their partners.

[Elsewhere, Piyomon bounces along on safe, not-sinking, dry land, from whence Sora fishes semi-peacefully]
Piyomon: “Piyopiyo piyopiyo…” [piyopiyo 「ぴよぴよ」 is onomatopoea for the chirping of small birds.]
Biyomon: (sing-song) “Sora’s fishing, Sora’s fishing!”

Don’t make fun of her.

Piyomon: “Fishing?”
Sora: “I thought we should secure some food.”
Piyomon: “You’re so smart! My stomach’s growling, too.”
Sora: “However, the bait is just a twig. It’d be nice if a fish mistook it for a bug. How’s it look?”
Piyomon: “I don’t know because of the fog.”
Biyomon: “Catch anything?” [She’d just thrown her line out.]
Sora: “Not yet. Give me time; I’m hoping to catch something big.” [With a stick as bait.]
Biyomon: “I’d even be happy if you caught me a little sardine…”
Sora: (while Biyomon is still speaking) “Please!” ( normally) “I know how hungry you can get. If I caught a huge any-kind-of-fish, you’d be right there eating it with me, right?”
Biyomon: “Well, since you put it that way, I GUESS I could share…”

[Sora’s fishing line is tugged upon]
Piyomon: “It looks like an island, but… haa! You caught something!”
Sora: “A huge fish was fooled by the twig!”
Biyomon: “Do you really think you can make a big catch? Oh, look, maybe there’s one now!”
Sora: “Oh boy, it feels like a whale! This is a whopper for sure!”

[It’s Jou.]
Sora: “Jou!”
Sora: “Oh, my! That’s a person! JOE!”

We’re gonna need a bigger Joe-t.

Sora always calls Jou “Jou-senpai” (Mimi does as well). As you may know, “senpai” 「先輩」 means “upperclassmen” in Japanese. In Japan, it’s common to address people in higher grade levels than your own with “senpai” to show respect. It’s also written as “sempai” because that’s how it sounds out loud. “Kouhai” 「後輩」 is the word for underclassmen, however it isn’t used as a suffix; for that, one would use “-kun” 「くん」.

In English, the words “senior” and “upperclassman” are common translations of “senpai” as a word, but since we don’t use the terms as titles by which to address people, “Jou-senpai” has no English cultural equivalent.

To be consistent with how other suffixes are handled in my comparisons, I’m not going to write out “senpai”, but know that it’s there. _{watching you}

Sora: “Just what happened?”
Gomamon: “About that…
Gomamon: “Then a large crate drifted over to us, Ogremon popped out and attacked us!”
Sora: “Goodness, how horrible.”

It is horrible! He’s stranded out there in the ocean!

The flashback went without Gomamon’s narration in the original. It didn’t really need any narration; it happened five minutes ago.

Sora: “Oh my goodness! I’m so glad that the both of you are okay.”

That was the most fake-sounding condolence I’ve ever heard. Nicely done, Sora.

Gomamon: “Can I ask a favor?”
Sora: “What is it?”
Gomamon: “It’s about Jou.”
Sora: “Is he okay?”
Gomamon: “But I’m worried about Joe.”
Biyomon: “You are?”
Sora: “Joe’s gonna be just fine, Gomamon.”

A little drowning never hurt anyone!

Gomamon: “His spirit’s getting weaker.”
Sora: “Well, he never had a strong spirit…”
Gomamon: “We don’t know what’ll happen from now on. If he stays like this, we can’t have adventures!”
Gomamon: “Well, yes, physically, but I’m worried about his confidence! Fighting Ogremon back there really knocked him out. He needs to rebuild his self-confidence.”

Speaking of which: you guys did resuscitate him, right?

[They did. They also hatched a plot to restore Jou’s confidence by ramping up his social anxiety by forcing him to be their leader, then Jou wakes up.]
Jou: “Gomamon… Sora, Piyomon! Where’s everyone?”
Piyomon: “We don’t know.”
Sora: “We just got here ourselves.”
Jou: “I see.”
Sora: “So, from now on, you should become our leader, Jou!”
Joe: “Hey, where’s Ogremon? Huh, huh, huh?”
Biyomon: “He’s gone.”
Sora: (while Biyomon is still talking. rude!) “But we’ve got a bigger problem! We can’t find the others. What should we do? We’re stuck on this deserted island with no leader. So, I guess you’re going to have to lead us, Joe!”

Smooth, Sora. Real smooth.

Jou: “W-w-wait a minute…”
Sora: “Jou, you’re the only one who can do it!”
Joe: “Not me! I am not a leader!”
Sora: “You have to; you’re the strongest one here!”

Sora is an athlete, but even if she weren’t, she could probably break him like she broke those eggs in his last character-developing episode.

Biyomon: “Not to mention the bravest!”

We will overlook the fact that he just got spooked by someone popping out of a crate in the middle of the ocean, because that is a very, VERY effective way to startle someone.

In all seriousness, Jou IS pretty brave! He scaled a mountain on his own (Gomamon joining him was not planned) at night just to save his friends the inconvenience. I mean, yeah, it sounds more stupid than brave when I say it like that, but he’s really not a coward.

Gomamon: “Come on, Joe! Remember how you fought the Unimon!”

Yeah, he jumped on its back while it was in mid-air to try to dislodge a gear, which, in hindsight, also sounds pretty stupid…

Jou: “I understand. I’ll become the leader!”
Joe: “I am brave. You’re right! I’m the brightest one here!”

Wait, maybe we should go over this “stupid” business a little bit more…

[Bells ring from a distance.]
Jou: “Is that bell ringing because I became the leader?”
Sora: “No way…”
Sora: “Well, let’s not get too carried away.
Joe: “But if I fail, who will save you or me?”
Sora: “My fish line? Heheheh…”

In the dub, the bell starts ringing after Sora nominates her fish line to be Joe’s runner-up. The bell is quieter than in the original, and a different chime is used.

In the original, the bell corresponded with the fog lifting, which Piyomon noted. Since the fog wasn’t mentioned in the dub, they left that part out.

Again: if the videos look stupid, it’s because some asshole who wasn’t Gear and was me made them instead.
If they don’t work: still Izzy’s fault.

[Jou hesitates]
Jou: “Ahh, well… e-everyone, l-let’s go!”
Joe: “What if we see a bad Digimon? I, uh… uh, I need a moment… okay.”

Original: nervousness, uncertainty. Both normal responses. Dub: total weenie. Time-waster. Just the worst.

---

So they’re walking uphill, and Jou and Gomamon are breathing heavily (Jou is excused because he almost drowned, but Gomamon is semi-aquatic and has no justification. He will be jailed) and the English version changes it to Joe singing, “Hut, two, three, four, oh, your left, two three four,” etc. It’s embarrassing for all involved.

Sora: “Must he keep up that army march drivel?”

Should have made the fishing line the leader.

---

[The group approaches a church at the top of the hill]
Jou: “… As we thought, this place is an island that broke off from File Island.”
Sora: “It all looks sort of familiar to me — as if it’s a place I’ve dreamed about, or déjà vu. You know, like we’ve been here before.”
Joe: “You’re right. This definitely looks like the part of the island that broke away.”

Sora doesn’t say any such thing in the original, and it never comes up again. I guess it was a tie-in to Jou‘s conclusion that this island is a broken-off part of File Island. Trouble is: the kids have never seen this church before. When the island broke apart, we did see several distinct areas like the lake from episode 2, Pyokomon village, the factory, and the Village of Toys (Toy Town), but a church was not visible in those shots.

[Jou assumes there must be humans here]
Sora: “You’re still saying stuff like that?”
Jou: “Yes! This time, it’s true!”
Sora: “I know you believe that, but…”
Sora: “You’re assuming quite a bit there.”
Joe: “Fine, it’s my opinion!”
Sora: “I’m just giving you another view.”

You were stating a fact. Now kick him in the ‘nads.

Sora: “What’s he swaggering about?”
Gomamon: “He’s becoming leader-like!”
Sora: *laughs* “Really!”
Sora: “We’ve created a monster.”
Gomamon: “Hey, you think a black gear got him?”
Sora: *laughs* “Gomamon!”

This was all your idea, you little punk. Kick him, too, Sora.

More music! The Japanese version had some traditional-sounding festival music going while the church and its festivities were shown. The dub’s background music was awful and has nothing to do with anything, as usual.

No dialogue.
Joe: “Okay, step lightly now, troops! Let’s have no stragglers! There’s the church.”

ATTACK

Piyomon: “What’s that?” (The music)
Sora: “Leader, go take a look!”
Jou: “Heeeeeh?”
Piyomon: “Go take a look!”
Sora: “Leader!”
Biyomon: “Who’s going in?”
Sora: (to Joe) “What are you waiting for?!”
Joe: “Huuuuuuh?”
Biyomon: “What’s wrong?”
Sora: “Well, boss?”
Gomamon: (off-screen) “Joe, you’re the leader!”

I bet the fishing line would have gone right in.

[Gomamon offers to go]
Jou: “D-don’t do anything unnecessary! I’m the leader, so I’ll go look!”
Joe: “NO, I don’t want you taking a peek! I can’t wait to go in there!”

Gomamon adds, “I think it worked” after Joe begins to leave. He’s not that far away, buddy.

[Joe sneaks along the wall towards the source of the music]
Joe: “Okay, I’m afraid.”

You should be; Gomamon is audibly plotting something involving you.

[Jou peeps the church and finds its congregation dancing around like weirdos]
No dialogue.
Joe: “I was right! Just a normal group of people!”

… dancing to no music in the dub! Just normal people at fun, totally not-a-cult, sinister carnival.

[He returns with his findings]
Jou: “There really are humans! Lots of them!”
Joe: “Oh hey guys WHOA! *he skids by them* “There are people in the church, dancing — badly, I might add!”

Hey now! There’s nothing wrong with their freakish ritual dance!

It’s probably fine.

Jou: “Why are they dancing?”
Sora: “A festival?”
Priest: “This is a carnival where we make offerings to Lord Bakemon.”
Sora: “There are people! They’re dancing and they’re wearing masks, like it’s… Halloween.”
Priest: “Hallo-what?”

Sora’s family throws the worst Halloween parties.

In the Japanese version, when the priest’s face appears beside Sora’s suddenly, there are background violin stings reminiscent of Psycho.

---

The references to Halloween in the dub are added in and, quite frankly, they’re pretty silly because their carnival looks nothing like Halloween. Halloween is celebrated in Japan, but it looks nothing like what’s happening here.

[The priest guide them into the church]
Gomamon: “I’d like to ask…”
Priest: “Go ahead.”
Gomamon: “You mentioned Lord Bakemon…”
Priest: “Yes.”
Gomamon: “The Bakemon I know is… ghost Digimon who reside in the Overdell Graveyard. I don’t think they’re worthy of having ‘Lord’ added to their name and offerings made to them.”
Piyomon: “I agree.”
Priest: “God does not forgive those who speak ill of Lord Bakemon!”
Gomamon: “Sorry!”
Piyomon: “Sorry!”
Priest: “You arrived just in time for some… fun.”
Joe: “Like Trick or Treat? You do that for Bakemon?”
Priest: “Yes.”
Gomamon: “Wait. Bakemon, as in Lord Bakemon?”
Priest: “Yes.”
Gomamon: “But the only Bakemon I know of is a… horrible Digimon who lives among ghosts as their ruler. Why would you honor and celebrate someone like that in the words of our friends he’s like a loser!”
Biyomon: “You got that right!”
Priest: “Don’t you dare come in here telling us who to honor or not! And don’t you dare use run-on sentences with me, young mon!”
Gomamon: “Now, now!”
Biyomon: “Back off!”

Sora: “Where’s your offering? I don’t see one anywhere.”
Sora: “You’re a little touchy. We just want to know when the Trick-or-Treating starts.”

In my day, if we walked into a religious establishment, we treated the cultists with respect. If we gave the clergy any lip, they’d feed us ceremoniously to their awful gods, and we were grateful for the opportunity.

In Buddhist tradition, offerings of flowers, burning candles and/or incense, prayer, food, and other objects are made to depictions of the Buddha — or Lord Bakemon, in this case. No such items are seen anywhere in or around the church, which is why Sora is confused.

Priest: “It is here.”
Priest: “You’re not afraid?”

I don’t mind saying that I would be afraid if a priest in a freaky mask invited me into a church occupied only by other priests in freaky masks and no snacks.

Priest: “Our offering to Lord Bakemon is…” *ghosts out* “… you!”
Priest: “Well, you should be, because it’s a trick…”
Joe and Gomamon: “Huuuh?”
Priest: *boo* “… and you’re the treat!”

Digimon Analyser: “Bakemon: a ghost Digimon covered entirely in a white sheet. No one knows what its true form looks like underneath.”
Gomamon: “The masked man was the evil Digimon Lord Bakemon in disguise. No one had ever seen him in his true form.”

That’s possibly a mistranslation. The narrator in the original meant that no one has seen what Bakemon looks like under its sheet. Obviously someone would have had to have seen it before — otherwise, how did Gomamon know what they look like? And this is a regular Bakemon — Lord Bakemon happens later.

The Bakemon chant “Trick or Treat” in the dub for some reason when they come out of their disguises. It was entirely necessary, of course; the episode didn’t have enough Halloween references, and the kids won’t know that the evil cult festival that has nothing to do with Halloween is thematically appropriate for when this episode aired, which was *checks notes* late Septemb– okay no this is stupid.

So, it’s not clear because there are other characters making noise at the same time, but as they run away from the newly revealed Bakemon, dub Sora says something ending with, “worse than Halloween”. Apparently her family does throw shitty Halloween parties. I was not expecting that to be confirmed.

---

[They flee but are cut off by the “humans”]
Piyomon and Sora: “Overdell Graveyard!”
Sora: “The dancers, who I bet are ghosts, too!”
Bakemon/Dancers: “ThaaAAat’s riiIIight!”

Gomamon: “I can’t evolve now because I did it earlier.”
Gomamon: “I need food you were right I should have saved some earlier.”

You need punctuation.

[The Bakemon surround the group]
Joe: “Ooh, I’m allergic– OW! I’m allergic to pain!”

[Now they are thrown in jail]
No dialogue.
Bakemon: “Get in there!”
Another Bakemon: “You, too!”

Hey– OW! What the hell did I do??

---

Sora and Joe are captured and now the Bakemon are chanting, “It’s a trick! YOU’RE the treat!” as they surround them. Yes, guys, we get it. You’ve made that joke like four times now.

In the original: when Jou and Sora are up on the altar, some drum beats are heard in the background, which is pretty cool as it gives a more “ritual” feel to the scene.

In the dub: there’s no additional sounds for effect.

[Sora and Jou are restrained on the altar]
Jou: “We’re Lord Bakemon’s offering?”
Sora: “It looks that way.”
Jou: *starts crying* “I knew it would have been better to stay home studying for entrance exams instead of coming to camp!”
Sora: “You’re starting that again?”
Joe: “Okay, don’t panic. I’m still in control and feeling strong.”
Sora: “Okay.”
Joe: *starts crying* “Waaah, I don’t wanna be somebody’s appetizer! I’m supposed to go to med school!”

Have a more positive attitude, Joe. You’re a STARTER, not an appetizer!

[A couple of Bakemon come along to season Jou and Sora]
Bakemon with Salt: “Salt.”
Bakemon with Pepper: “Pepper.”
Bakemon with Salt: “Salt.”
Bakemon with Pepper: “Pepper.”
Bakemon with Salt: “And pepper!”
Bakemon with Pepper: “More?”
Bakemon with Salt: “Why not?”

In the dub, the Bakemon with the salt did say “and pepper” even though the Bakemon with the pepper didn’t say “salt” first — and yes, their shakers are swapped.

Sora: “D-don’t you think you should go easy on the salt?”
Bakemon with Salt: “That’s true. They say eating too much salt is bad for your body.”
Jou: “They really are going to eat us!!”
Sora: “Salt and pepper? You’re not really gonna eat us, are you?”
Bakemon: “You’re a little on the scrawny side, but you’d be surprised what the right seasonings can do!”
Joe: “You think we can fanagle them into dining on someone a bit bigger?”

I’m a little surprised they didn’t keep the “go easy on the salt” bit. It’s a good one and a cute diversion.

Sora: “Just what is this Lord Bakemon?!”
Sora: “What kind of fiend is this guy? We’re just kids!

Being kids is all the better reason to eat you! You’re bite-sized, you can’t defend yourselves, your bones are still soft and chewy, you’re annoying, and you get to leave this mortal coil before you’re old enough work an office job! It’s win-win!

[Elsewhere, Gomamon and Piyomon are in jail. A lone guard stands… uh… guard]
Gomamon: “It doesn’t look like we can break out.”
Piyomon: “But we have to get out somehow.”
Biyomon: “There must be a way out of here.”
Gomamon: “Maybe we’ve been looking in all the wrong places.”
Biyomon: “There’s not much room to look in this place.”

Have there been any exits in the places you’ve looked? No? Then yeah, you’re doing something wrong.

The Japanese Bakemon voices slightly echoed to sound more spooky-like. The dub went with “unspecified monster voice” for all of them except this one guard, who has a soft, dorkier voice. It works pretty well.

[Gomamon and Piyomon muse that the guard Bakemon looks dumb enough to be tricked]
Piyomon: “How do you know he’s easy to trick?”
Gomamon: “Digimon who sleep with snot bubbles coming out of their noses are easy-to-fool Digimon!”
Piyomon: “Is it really okay to base an assertion on that?”
Gomamon: “It’s fine!”
Piyomon: “So how do we do it?”
Biyomon: “Right, so first we have to try and wake him up.”
Gomamon: “And how are we gonna do that? Look at him! For a ghost, he sleeps like a log.”
Biyomon: “We just have to get his attention or we’ll never escape!”
Gomamon: “Uh-huh.”
Biyomon: “But I’m all out of ideas!”
Gomamon: “I think I have just the thing!”

[Gomamon chucks a rock at the sleeping Bakemon and breaks his snot bubble]
Gomamon: “Bakemon!”
Bakemon Guard: “Me?”
Gomaon: “You!”
Bakemon Guard: “What is it?”
Gomamon: “Aren’t you going to taunt us?”
Bakemon Guard: “What?”
Piyomon: “We want to be taunted!”
Bakemon Guard: “You guys sure are weird Digimon.”
Bakemon Guard: “Heeey, what’s the idea?!”
Gomamon: “So when do you start?”
Bakemon Guard: “Start what?”
Gomamon: “Start taunting us, you floating bag of wind!”
Bakemon Guard: “Wha?”
Biyomon: “You give bad Digimon a bad name!”
Bakemon Guard: “But I haven’t learned how to taunt anyone yet!”

Poor guy. It’s his first day on the job, he falls asleep, and he left his handbook at home!

Piyomon: “We’re hungry, so why don’t you eat something in front of us to torture us?”
Bakemon: “Huh?”
Gomamon: “Could it be… this graveyard is so poor that you don’t even have anything to eat?”
Bakemon: “Wh-What?! No, we have lots of food!”
Piyomon: “Then torture us with it!”
Bakemon: “Okay.” *leaves to retrieve some bananas* “Look, doesn’t it look tasty?”
Gomamon: “I’m so hungry I can’t see.”
Bakemon: “Huh?”
Gomamon: “Come closer.”
Bakemon: “Like this?”
Piyomon: “I’m so hungry I can’t smell anything. Come closer.”
Bakemon: “Like this?”
Gomamon: “Here’s how ya taunt: we’re starving and wanna eat, so you show us food but don’t give it to us. Got it?”
Bakemon: “I think I gotcha! You know, I’ve got a bunch of bananas.”
Biyomon: “Then taunt us with them, come on.”
Bakemon: “Okay.” *banana retrieval* “How’s this? Mm, looks good doesn’t it?”
Gomamon: “I can’t see. Uh, come a little closer.”
Bakemon: “Uh? Here?”
Biyomon: “You have to come even closer to taunt us. We can’t really see ya.”
Bakemon: “You bet! See?”

[Gomamon and Piyomon proceeds to get between a Digimon and his meal]
Piyomon: “This is enough to bring back my energy!”
Gomamon: “Yeah!”
Gomamon: “That was a pretty good idea.”
Biyomon: “Never get between a Digimon and his meal!”

“Now let’s go get between Lord Bakemon and his meal!”

---

[Meanwhile, back at the festivities]
Jou: “M-my soul tastes bad!”
Sora: “What?! Are you saying mine tastes better?
Jou: “It probably tastes better than mine!”
Sora: “Jou!! And yet you’re the leader?!”
Joe: “You don’t want to eat me; I’m mostly gristle anyway.”
Sora: “What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying they should eat me first?”
Joe: “Oh, can’t you see it’s curtains for both of us?!”
Sora: “Oh, go have your pity party somewhere else!!”

I’m sure he’d love to, but he’s a little tied up right no–OW

---

During the above conversation, the Bakemon are chanting, “We like food! We like to eat! Munching you both will be a treat!” Dial it back a smidge, guys…

---

Bakemon: “Let’s call forth Lord Bakemon.”
Bakemon: *repeat chanting* “Munching you both will be a treat!”

One more smidge…

Bakemon: “We’re scary ghosts! We like to ‘boo’! Now it’s time to chew on you! Now it’s time to chew on YOOUUU~!”

All right, that one was adorable.

Lord Bakemon’s voice is in the same boat as the other Bakemon – deep and spooky in the original, nonspecific monster in the dub.

[Birdramon and Ikkakumon crash on in]
Jou: “Ikkakumon!”
Sora: “Birdramon!”
Joe: “Good timing! Couldn’t be better!”
Sora: “Hey, go get Bakemon!” *scene change; Sora and Jou run out of the church into the graveyard* “… while we get out of here!”

Jerk.

Ikkakumon and Birdramon attack, and Lord Bakemon uses his special move, Hell’s Hand, to catch Ikkakumon’s Harpoon Vulcan out of the air. This is left out of the dub “for some reason”.

---

The scenes are re-arranged again when the dub comes back from a fade-to-commercial break.

Original:
Lord Bakemon tosses away Ikkakumon’s Harpoon Vulcan.
Birdramon uses Meteor Wing.
Lord Bakemon deflects Meteor Wing.
The cut scene above.

The dub, when returning from break:
Lord Bakemon catches the Harpoon Torpedo.
A shot of Sora from a few moments later in the episode saying, “Lord Bakemon is tough!”
Birdramon uses Meteor Wing.
Lord Bakemon deflects Meteor Wing.

[Jou has an idea]
Jou: “For dealing with a ghost, a thankful sutra summary is the only strategy!”
Joe: “His power comes from evil, but I know that good can beat him with time.”

Well, that’s useful right now.

Sora: “What is that?”
Jou: “A thankful sutra summary will weaken Lord Bakemon’s power!”
Sora: “You can do that?!”
Sora: “Oh, what if it’s too late?!”
Joe: “It’s never too late to fight evil! But we have to weaken Lord Bakemon to help our friends prevail!”
Sora: “‘We’? You’re the leader, not me!”

Leadership skills aside, the fishing line also doesn’t sass back as much.

Jou: “Yes!”
Sora: “Do you know any thankful sutras?”
Jou: “My grandma from the country taught me a thankful sutra for taking tests.”
Joe: “Don’t be a quitter!”
Sora: “So what makes you think that we can beat him?”
Joe: “I once saw a show about this Roman physicist. He believed that repeating a phrase helps you focus mind over matter!”

Fun fact: “mind over matter” — or rather, “mind moves matter” — referring to using willpower to overcome physical limitations, was coined by Virgil, a Roman poet from the 18th century. There are several important differences between poetry and Physics that Joe probably should have noticed.

Sora: “That will work on Lord Bakemon?”
Jou: “It’s a thankful sutra — it has to work!”
Sora: “What’s this sudden confidence..? It’s a little scary!”
Sora: “Let’s focus on running!”
Joe: “No, we focus on making Bakemon lose his power.”
Sora: “Okay, you’re in charge! Start focusing.”

A sutra is a text that summarizes religious and philosophical teachings. Jou is reciting a Buddhist sutra.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutra

His specifying a thankful sutra may be linked to the lack of offerings for Lord Bakemon noted by Sora, as gratitude is an important element of Buddhist teachings, and prayers (including sutras) are among the offerings that are often made. That may be how Jou made the connection that a thankful sutra would be effective. This could imply that proper offerings would have weakened Lord Bakemon, which is why there weren’t any.

Information on the topic has been remarkably elusive, but I did find a recording of “The Thankful Sutra”. It doesn’t seem to be a direct match to what Jou is doing, but he did specify that’s he’s chanting an abbreviated sutra (or summary). Still cool, though.

The sutra was changed to “Bakemon, lose your power”. Fortunately for Joe, Lord Bakemon is very impressionable and obliges.

There wasn’t an opportunity in the dialogue to explain this tradition in the dub, and a prayer likely wouldn’t have made it past Standards & Practices to avoid complaints from parents. Weird Roman Physics poetry wins yet again.

Jou: *pauses chanting* “The mokugyo!” [木魚 — a fish-shaped, wooden drum used during recitation of sutras]
Joe: “Bakemon, lose your power. Bakemon, lose your power. Bakemon, lose your power. *to Sora* You can jump in any time now… WELL, HELP!”

You know what would have brought along a mokugyo? The fishing line. _{*ba-dum TSSSHHH*}

[Jou resumes reciting the sutra]
Joe: “Good.”
Sora: “Yeah, we’ll use my lucky hat!”

I wouldn’t touch it if I were you, Joe.

Original: as with most battle scenes, Brave Heart plays in the background starting when Gomamon evolves into Ikkakumon. When Sora and Jou are talking about the sutra, the song quiets down, and it stops completely when Jou starts chanting. It doesn’t pick back up until Jou orders Ikkakumon and Birdramon to attack.

The dub doesn’t do the same, but the song playing is actually appropriate while Joe is chanting. Once he declares victory, though, the music doesn’t pick up, so it’s kind of anti-climactic.

[Lord Bakemon is weakened]
Jou: “Ikkakumon, Birdramon, NOW!!”
Joe: “Bakemon better pick his fights more carefully WE WON!!”

He just wanted lunch!

(2 sec) A shot of Lord Bakemon getting hit with Ikkakumon’s Harpoon Vulcan is covered up with a short clip of Jou talking from when he gave the attack order/declared victory.

Sora: “I don’t understand it, but this is great!”
Sora: “Way to go, guys! You got Bakemon!”

Where it shows Birdramon and Ikkakumon right after their victory: in the original, they roared. In the dub, they laughed. It sounded EVIL.

[The ground cracks]
Sora: *peeks into the crack* “Black gears!”
Joe: “It’s an earthquake!”
Sora: “But we’re not shaking!” *peeks* “Uh-oh, those are black gears!”

[The black gears suddenly stop turning]
Jou: “They stopped.”
Joe: “Lots of ’em, huh?”
[The island shakes, and the gears begin to break]
Sora: “Now we’re shaking!”

[Then…]
Joe: “I’m sure glad those black gears broke.”
Sora: “And I’m glad Bakemon’s gone!”

And I’m glad this episode is almost over!

Jou: “It’s Infinity Mountain!”
Sora: “Everyone might be over there!”
Jou: “Let’s go look!”
Sora: “Look, it’s Infinity Mountain!”
Joe: “And that’s where we’re going.”
Sora: “Yeah.”
[They head for the mountain]
Joe: “Maybe our friends are there, Sora.”
Sora: “I hope so!”