Digimon Adventure tri. - Chapter 3

=Characters=

=Summary= Meicoomon's rampage causes a series of computer system malfunctions and shutdowns at airports and on aircraft. Professor Mochizuki arrives for a meeting with Himekawa Maki and Nishijima Daigo, just as Nishijima is angrily interrogating Himekawa for failing to disclose to him that Meicoomon was the source of the distortions in the first place.

At Odaiba Middle School, the students, including Tachikawa Mimi, are packing up after the end of the festival, while government agents investigate the site of the battle and distortion. Mimi overhears from the other students that Mochizuki Meiko is taking garbage to the dumpsters and goes to find her, but Meiko runs away out of horror and shame at what happened to Meicoomon and how she killed Leomon. Mimi and Takenouchi Sora try to comfort her.

Takaishi Takeru and Yagami Hikari investigate the sighting of the man dressed as the Digimon Kaiser who had controlled Imperialdramon, believing him to be Ichijouji Ken, the original Digimon Kaiser. Nobody is home at Ken's house, and there are no responses to their inquiries by phone. Hikari notices the composure and maturity with which Takeru is conducting the investigation.

Yagami Taichi, Ishida Yamato, Izumi Kōshirō, Kido Jo, and Sora gather at Kōshirō's office with the partner Digimon, who are in storage in Kōshirō's server. Kōshirō is investigating the source of the infection that "infected" Meicoomon, as he observes that infections are now occurring in the real world as well, so the partner Digimon are instructed to stay in the server for their own protection. However, Kōshirō is unable to find any leads. Mimi and Meiko arrive, and Kōshirō begins bluntly asking her questions about when Meicoomon's infection occurred. Kōshirō is on edge over his inability to find any leads, and butts heads with Mimi over his blunt questioning, as she accuses him of insensitivity. Meiko starts crying and apologizing and describing it as "all her fault".

When the group leaves Kōshirō's office, Sora and Mimi take Meiko home, while Taichi and Yamato discuss Mimi and Jo's attaining of Ultimate Evolution. Yamato shows Taichi a "prophecy" that Kōshirō showed him that may relate to Ultimate Evolution:


 * To seek true power...
 * Know the darkness...
 * And make it through...

Yamato comments that if the rest of the group is now attaining Ultimate Evolution, he, Taichi, and Omegamon may have it easier as they are relied upon less. Yamato leaves.

Meiko returns home, and her mother tells her that her father, Professor Mochizuki is in meetings, which Meiko instantly assumes are about Meicoomon. In one such meeting, Himekawa briefs Professor Mochizuki and other officials about the situation and the threat to the airports. Professor Mochizuki shares a report about the fight at the school with the other officials to raise a connection. After the meeting, Himekawa and Nishijima tell Professor Mochizuki of Meiko's mental state, and Yamato approaches Himekawa and Nishijima to ask for as much information as they have about the situation. They share a private report on the school festival incident with Yamato, but Himekawa lies to him about Ken and tells him not to worry. They leave him with a message for the other Chosen Children: that the investigation into Meicoomon is underway and they will share information. Nishijima confronts Himekawa for not telling the truth about Ken and Meicoomon, but Himekawa dismisses it as an unwillingness to burden the children too much, and that the same goes for her keeping details from Nishijima.

Meiko apologizes to her father about Meicoomon, and her father says that he will take care of it.

Over the next few days, Meiko does not come to school, although Mimi continues trying to reach out to her by phone. Himekawa reviews documentation about "Project R:" the Reboot. Kōshirō obsessively continues his attempts to find the source of infection, still with no luck. Sora pays Meiko a visit and tries to help her take care of herself, and tries to reassure her that everything will be okay by telling her of the time that Taichi had also once caused Agumon to evolve negatively and run wild, and that they were fine now. Meiko starts crying.

Jo visits Kōshirō's office. He finds the office covered in garbage, and Kōshirō exhausted at his computer. Kōshirō admits that he has not slept since the festival, but is so bent on continuing his investigation that does not listen to Jo's insistence that he take care of himself, and Tentomon mentions that his attempts to tell Kōshirō the same had also fallen on deaf ears. He says that he had discovered and repaired infection data errors in his PC as well, that had arisen around the same time as the festival and therefore likely sharing the same root cause, and that as a result he had moved the Digimon to the server room.

Takeru visits Kōshirō's office shortly after Jo convinces Kōshirō to get some sleep. Patamon is excited to see Takeru and emerges from the server, and all the other partner Digimon follow him. While Takeru is hugging Patamon, Patamon begins exhibiting symptoms of infection, and briefly goes mad and bites Takeru. Takeru panics and tries to hide it from Jo. When Patamon snaps out of it, he has no memory of going mad and is confused by the bite wound in Takeru's arm. Takeru decides to take Patamon home to further cover up the infection, and gets in an argument with Jo where he tries to justify it as a health precaution. Jo eventually relents when Patamon insists on not leaving Takeru (which Patamon later admits is only because he could tell how upset Takeru was).

The next day, Meiko returns to school. After school, the Chosen Children (except Kōshirō) gather under the bridge to discuss the fallout of Takeru taking Patamon home, how all the Digimon now want to leave the server, and how risky it is. They agree to only take them out on afternoons after school. Meiko is upset by their excited talk about spending time with their Digimon, but tries to downplay it when the others notice.

When all the others leave, Takeru confesses to Meiko that Patamon has been infected, that he feels guilty for trying to cover it up, and that he cannot bring himself to admit the truth to anyone out of fear for what will happen to Patamon. Meiko apologizes over and over, as she sees it as her fault.

When Takeru gets home, he observes more infection glitch artifacts on Patamon's tail. Patamon has started to notice them as well, and has come to the conclusion that he is infected. He says that he has made his peace with it and asks Takeru to, if he is overtaken by the infection, kill him to protect the others, but Takeru refuses. Patamon tries to make him feel better, but they both break down into tears.

Yamato and Gabumon come to visit Takeru. Yamato has noticed that something is not right with Takeru, but Takeru keeps trying to cover it up with jokes about KNIFE OF DAY. The visit is interrupted by a call from Sora, who is checking in on everyone. Piyomon tries to convince Sora to take some time to care for herself, not just for everyone else.

Meicoomon-induced glitches start occurring across the Kanto prefecture at 7:52 PM, including a total power disruption at an airport. A message starts appearing on screens, and is rebroadcast on the news:


 * The time of destruction has come.
 * Once again, the Digimon will be unleashed.
 * Your world, which is dependent upon fragile digital infrastructure, is a mere house built upon sand.
 * Now, this time, we play the tune of catastrophe

This causes mass panic, although Yagami Yuuko is unfazed to hear the news report the next morning and asks Taichi and Hikari to pick up groceries after school. Symptoms of infection briefly appear in Agumon's eye.

In his office, Kōshirō continues his investigation as the partner Digimon watch. Tentomon thinks that he is pushing himself even harder because of the news. Following Gabumon's lead, the partner Digimon quietly leave the office and take a walk to give Kōshirō peace. Agents of the Bureau notice and, at Himekawa's request, begin tailing them.

At school, Hikari receives a phone call, but when she answers it, Homeostasis possesses her and she leaves the building.

The partner Digimon walk to the Chosen Children's usual bridge meeting place, while Himekawa watches their conversation from a nearby hill. When Tailmon mentions that they are putting themselves at risk of infection by being out in public, Patamon admits that he is already infected, but asks them not to tell anyone and to, if he goes mad, kill him. The Digimon are all alarmed by the request.

Hikari/Homeostasis arrives, explains the fundamental structure that underpins all the worlds that coexist with the real world, and warns them that infected Digimon pose an existential threat to it that will destroy the Digital World and the Digimon. When Gabumon asks if it can be stopped, Homeostasis tries to tell them that there is only one way, but its possession of Hikari ends before it can share any details. Himekawa intervenes and tells the Digimon that Homeostasis probably meant the Reboot: a total reset of the Digital World that would remove the infected Digimon from existence and save the real world but, as Tailmon points out, would also reset the Digimon and totally wipe all of their memories. Himekawa warns that a Reboot is already nearly inevitable, and that Homeostasis will likely the next time that Meicoomon appears. She then takes Hikari to the hospital to recover, but does not tell Hikari what had happened.

The other partner Digimon object strongly to the idea of losing their memories, and Agumon and Gomamon come to the conclusion that if they can capture Meicoomon, then the Reboot could be avoided, while Tentomon (who briefly exhibits infection glitching) is optimistic that Kōshirō will find a way to avert it. Tailmon has a blunt and realistic view of the situation, and warns them that they should be prepared to sacrifice everything if it means saving the real world.

The Digimon split up and go to find their partners. Aside from Agumon and Tentomon, none of them tell their partners anything about the Reboot or Homeostasis, and instead ask to simply spend some quality time together. Hikari takes Tailmon shopping, Gabumon requests that Yamato play his harmonica, Piyomon tries to get Sora to open up about her future aspirations, Gomamon asks if he can meet Jo's girlfriend, and Palmon listens to Mimi's stories. Takeru and Patamon shut themselves in Patamon's room to spend as much time as they can together while Patamon struggles with the infection. Taichi notices that Agumon is acting weird, and Agumon confesses the truth about the Reboot, but insists that they can stop Meicoomon without the Reboot happening.

Hackmon reports to Homeostasis that Meicoomon is still nowhere to be found, and is ordered to continue searching.

In his office, Kōshirō makes a breakthrough on the common cause of distortions, infections, and the glitches caused in digital technologies: data, usually encoded in or systems that can convert to binary like  or, is being overwritten into an as-yet unidentified base system (actually ) which is totally foreign to digital data as it is known to exist, and therefore causes errors. However, he is frustrated by how little he still understands about the mechananics of it all, and has a breakdown, considering himself totally useless. Tentomon tries to warn Kōshirō that he is handling his investigation in a self-destructive way, and is hurting himself by pushing himself so hard, although Kōshirō insists that he has to because of the peril that they are facing.

Tentomon tells Kōshirō what he knows about the Reboot. Kōshirō, like Tentomon, interprets it as a source of hope, and is inspired to get back to work on a plan to salvage the situation. Tentomon is relieved that Kōshirō seems to be back to his usual self, learning everything that he can so that he can reach for hope. While Kōshirō is distracted, he notices infection glitching on his shell.

Both Himekawa and Kōshirō detect the appearance of a distortion near, from which Meicoomon emerges. One by one the Chosen Children (aside from Kōshirō, who remains at his office preparing a program for the fight), as well as Nishijima, arrive on the scene to subdue Meicoomon and push her back into the distortion to prevent area damage, but when Greymon, Ikkakumon, Togemon, and Birdramon dogpile her, she mutates into Meicrackmon: Vicious Mode. Meiko also rushes to the scene to try and stop Meicoomon, but is dissuaded from calling attention to herself by Yamato, who worries that she if she comes to harm, she might trigger Meicrackmon into being even more violent.

The partner Digimon (except Patamon) succeed in pushing Meicrackmon into the distortion, but the battle becomes a tug-of-war to keep her inside, as they struggle to keep up with her speed and power. Patamon insists on joining the fight so that they can protect the real world from Meicrackmon, despite Takeru's fears about his infection, and evolves into Angemon. Meanwhile, Kōshirō comes to the conclusion that there is a link between Meicoomon and the distortions and that Meicoomon herself had not beocme infected.

The symptoms of the infection begin to surface in Angemon and disrupt his ability to fight, until he becomes the first to be fully taken over by the infection and begins attacking the other partner Digimon to get them away from Meicrackmon. This devastates Takeru. Meanwhile, Kōshirō arrives on the scene with his laptop.

As they continue to try and capture Meicrackmon, one by one, the other partner Digimon - Birdramon, Garurumon, Togemon, Ikkakumon, and Angewomon are also overtaken by the infection, leaving only Greymon. Nishijima observes that the rate of infection is increasing, and that if it continues, the situation will grow worse all over the world. Just as Greymon Super Evolves into Metal Greymon to keep fighting, the countdown to the Reboot begins (starting at 10:09), and the distortion space turns red. Kōshirō explains the Reboot, and its consequences on their partnerships with their Digimon, to the others, and deploys the program that he had been working on as a contingency plan: a backup field that will back up the partner Digimon's data so that he can manually filter out infection data and restore the Digimon.

The mission parameters change to capturing the infected partner Digimon in the backup field. Tentomon evolves into Kabuterimon and teams up with Metal Greymon to capture them. However, they are still outnumbered, and Meicrackmon prevents them from capturing any of the partner Digimon at all. The partner Digimon all gang up on Kabuterimon and devolve him back into Tentomon. Meanwhile, as Metal Greymon captures Meicrackmon, he begins manifesting symptoms of the infection.

03:48 on the Reboot countdown. Kōshirō begs Tentomon to enter the backup field and at least save himself, but Tentomon refuses to abandon his friends and is determined to at least protect the real world from further damage. He Super Evolves into Atlur Kabuterimon and captures Meicrackmon, but at that moment, Metal Greymon is also overtaken by the infection and Ultimate Evolves into War Greymon, so he Ultimate Evolves himself into Herakle Kabuterimon.

1:18 on the Reboot countdown. Herakle Kabuterimon still has Meicrackmon captured, but the partner Digimon all gang up on him and push him back into the real world, where they dogpile him to pin him down. Herakle Kabuterimon laments that their time together is ending with them torn apart, and begs them to open their eyes. His words reach them, and they all embrace one last time.

00:14 on the Reboot countdown. The partner Digimon, with Meicrackmon still caught in Herakle Kabuterimon's claw, all struggle to walk together back into the distortion, as the Chosen Children look on in horror. As the countdown reaches 00:00, the distortion disappears as they re-enter it, and they all fade away. Kōshirō's laptop displays a "REBOOT COMPLETE" message.

Some time later, normalcy has returned to Tokyo as reconstruction from the Digimon attacks begins. The Chosen Children are also trying to return to their lives as they were before, but are haunted by memories of their Digimon and the sound of Hikari's old whistle from somewhere far away, even though Hikari does not have it anymore. Himekawa and Nishijima discuss the fallout from the Reboot, and Himekawa insists that the Chosen Children must move on and grow up, and that as reconstruction continues, the Digimon will be totally forgotten both by the children and the public.

Takeru and Kōshirō meet in Kōshirō's office, where Kōshirō proposes an expedition into the Digital World. Takeru initially rejects it, out of guilt for what he let happen to Patamon. Kōshirō's attempts to convince the other Chosen Children are also turned down, and he reaches out to Himekawa.

While practicing soccer by himself with Hikari present, Taichi reflects on the conversation that he had had with Kōshirō when the latter suggested going after the others. At the time, he had merely said that "someday" he would see Agumon again, but he has an epiphany. The eight Chosen Children gather together and Taichi affirms that they can't just keep waiting. They begin making plans to travel into the Digital World.

Takeru goes to visit Meiko, who had secluded herself following the Reboot, and invites her to join them in the Digital World. Meiko flatly refuses out of guilt, blaming herself and Meicoomon for the entire ordeal as the source of the infection, and explains Meicoomon's history. Takeru tries to encourage her, but Meiko is upset by his kind words and asks to be left alone, saying that she is relieved that it is all over. Takeru leaves, but leaves her an open invitation to rejoin them whenever she is ready. Meanwhile, the other seven recruit Nishijima and Himekawa into their plan. Although she warns them that the Digital Gate will be unstable, she agrees to start making preparations and instructs them to gather at Big Sight, at the site of the Reboot.

At Big Sight, Kōshirō prepares his laptop with coordinates given to him by Himekawa, but the Digital Gate does not respond to their Digivices. Himekawa arrives with Ichijouji Ken's D-3 and D-Terminal and lends them to the group, instructing them to synchronize their Crest powers to the D-3 to open the Gate. They do so, the Digital Gate opens, and the eight Chosen Children enter the Digital World.

Back in her home, Meiko drops a glass and pricks her finger, reminding her of a time she did the same in her childhood and had to reassure Meicoomon about it. Nishijima rings her doorbell.

In the Digital World, the Chosen Children are caught in the crossfire of a fight between Alphamon and JESmon in the sky above them. Jo observes that the two Digimon are strangely highly evolved despite the Reboot. They hear the whistle again somewhere in the distance, and the Chosen Children follow the sound to a lakeside clearing where they find the eight partner Digimon in their Baby II forms, with Tokomon playing with the whistle (which Nyaromon claims is hers). The Chosen Children approach the Digimon, who respond with curiosity, except for Pyocomon, who regards Sora with suspicion.

On a cliff overlooking the reunion, the Digimon Kaiser doppelganger is watching the scene. Himekawa approaches, and he shapeshifts into a man who is identical to Gennai, except for his dark robes.

=Screenshots=

=Credits= =Extra=

Evolution

 * Agumon - Greymon - Metal Greymon - War Greymon
 * Gabumon - Garurumon
 * Piyomon - Birdramon
 * Tentomon - Kabuterimon - Atlur Kabuterimon - Herakle Kabuterimon
 * Palmon - Togemon
 * Gomamon - Ikkakumon
 * Patamon - Angemon
 * Tailmon - Angewomon
 * Meicoomon - Meicrackmon Vicious Mode

Trivia

 * In July 2020, Digimon Web conducted a series of polls where users voted on their favorite scenes in each of the then-four Digimon Adventure anime productions. The winner of the Digimon Adventure tri. category was the scene from "Confession" where Patamon and Takeru first open up to each other about Patamon's infection. (The tri. category's runner-up was also from "Confession": Herakle Kabuterimon begging his friends to "open their eyes".) The winning scene was then featured on a promotional card for the Digimon Card Game, P-023 Patamon's Confession.

=Quotations=

=Edits=

Crunchyroll
Crunchyroll's subtitled distribution of "Confession" is split into five approximately twenty-minute episodes, presented by the site as the 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th episodes of the Digimon Adventure tri. series.


 * Unlike the film release, the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th episodes have an opening credits sequence comprised of edited footage from "Reunion" and various pre-release teaser trailers. The first verse of "Butter-Fly ~tri.version~" plays in this sequence. An episode number is shown right after the opening credits.
 * The Digimon Adventure tri. logo appears in the bottom-left corner of the screen approximately ten to fifteen minutes into each episode, seemingly marking a point for a potential commercial break, though the episode carries on unedited and uninterrupted.
 * All five episodes have ending credits, shortened from the cinematic version to use only the first verse of "Boku ni Totte".

Other
=Notes and References=