Digimon Adventure 02
Episode 38: “Holy Night the Big Digimon Reunion!” / “A Very Digi Christmas”
The Christmas Story
Note: All the names are and plot points reflect the Fox Kids dubbing, since that’s the once I’m familiar with.
As the episode begins, Ken, now a member of the team, shyly invites the other to his Christmas party. The Digidestined accept, as “Davis Claus” also leads a plan to present the original Digidestined team their Digimon for Christmas.
After reuniting with their Digimon, Tai, Sora, Jyou and Izzy (and Jun, too, of course!) go to a concert Matt’s band (THE TEEN-AGE WOLVES) is throwing (Note: the band sounds soooo 90’s – they remind me of Spin Doctors). But the music is interrupted when a control spire appears and Digimon run rampant. The rest of the kids, who are playing cards at Ken’s party, soon join the older group in sending the Digimon back to the Digi-World. Everyone gets a good night’s rest with their digital friends, but awake in the morning to find that control spire have appeared around the world, beginning the Digimon World Tour arc.
While this episode isn’t particularly Christmas-y (no Santa Claus, Christmas cakes, or snow – and certainly no Christian symbols), it does present us with some Christmas spirit-y moments. The first is a major scene for fans of the series – when Sora prepares to give cookies to Matt. Although never developed much (except in fan fiction writers’ minds), the love triangle between Tai, Matt, and Sora is displayed here, as Sora becomes nervous around Tai while she waits for the concert to begin. Tai asks if she wants to join her, to which she responds no, “I want to be available in case Matt is free afterwards.” Blushing and laughing nervously, Sora calms down a bit when Tai maturely encourages her to go to Matt.
The other significant heart warmer has to do with Ken, who continues to develop his relationship with the Digidestined through his party. Funny enough, while the kids are deciding what card game to play next, Davis actually suggest “strip poker” – Fox Kids snuck that one in there.
You can watch this episode legally through Hulu.
Christmas Spirit Score
2 Santa Kero’s out of 4
If This Episode Was a Christmas Song, It Would Be…
“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” – The biggest gifts of the episode are the Digimon returning to their owners and Ken finding a “home” of sorts among his new friends. There’s also a tinge of sadness with Tai getting turned down by Sora.
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light beams
I’ll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams
Stocking Stuffer
Kari gives a super quick version of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” near the end of the episode:
Twas a Digimon Christmas and everyone was busy
Especially the likes of Tentomon and Izzy
Jyou played with Gomamon, Matt and Gobuman ate
Palmon saw Mimi – isn’t that great?
Cody and Upamon shared a little sushi
While Perurumon sat on Yolei’s tushi
Tokamon went caroling, Ken’s thankful for friends
While in Davis’ dreams, the fun never ends
Tomorrow’s Forecast
Unseasonably warm – you might want to get out and enjoy some holiday music, if you can find, say, a nice band made of high school girls.
On the first day of Christmas, anime gave to me… friends for a former emperor.
I have K-ON OST. what a merry time of year >_>
🙂
“strip poker” LOL. I was never a big fan of Digimon myself, but I find it very interesting how different each anime series handles this holiday. This seems like it’s sort of there, in the background. Although they pay attention to it, it’s not a main focus of the episode. Am i correct? If so I’d compare the way it handles christmas to say School Days. I mean the holiday is certainly there, you know it’s there, but again not a focal point of the episode.
You’re right – and you know what? In that way, it’s a little similar to how American shows often handle the holiday. While specials and movies focus on the holiday, most shows in the U.S. use it to create a unique feel, while sometimes ending on a slight “miracle” or emphasizing the idea of family; in Japan, the emphasis is on friendships or romance instead.
But there are a couple of anime that place a stronger emphasis on Christmas itself – I’ll discuss one in particular on December 25.
[…] On the twelfth day of Christmas, anime gave to me … Azmaria’s first Christmas, a gynoid giving gifts, nostalgic Christmas parties, Ami and Taiga singing, love changing a boy into a man, three homeless heroes, a widow knitting scarves, Rin’s charming grins, Naru looking pretty, knitting for a crush, a Paper Sisters birthday, and friends for a former emperor. […]