In the U.S., the first three seasons of Digimon aired on Fox Kids, which became FoxBox in 2002, then 4KidsTV in 2005. But what if Fox Kids still existed? And what if the Digimon Adventure reboot was airing there instead of on Crunchyroll?
Well, one fan created this alternate reality for us. They made a Fox Kids-style Digimon Adventure: theme song, and all I can say is I didn’t know how much I missed the Fox Kids era until now.
I don’t post a lot of ending themes because I usually don’t listen to them. But this song is unskippable. It’s hard to believe it’s from a Digimon season!
Yes, the song is called “Q?” I think it means “Question?” because the singer, Reol, keeps asking “why” questions. (“Naze” [なぜ] means “why”.)
VERSE
naze ima kono te to te nigitte
tashikameta taion o
natsukashiku omou no ka
naze samidare no susabu shinen
hohoenda sono shisen ni
nakitaku naru
sono koe de boku o yonde kure
CHORUS
dare ni ienu kono yowasa ga
tsuyoku tatsu tame no jiku da to omoishiru
chigau kara itooshiku naru
tada wakaritai kimi to boku o
ikiru hodo kizu ga fuete iku
sore demo sagashiteru bokura no wake o
kasanete wa utsukushiku naru
ima wakaritai sakebi dashitai
Source:
In case it wasn’t obvious, I love anime music. But getting it legally can be difficult…unless it happens to be in the U.S. iTunes store! Here are four anime songs I recently bought from there. If you love these songs, too, go get ’em!
TV Edit iTunes Link: https://music.apple.com/us/album/netojyu-no-susume-original-soundtrack/1324475499
Full Version iTunes Link: https://music.apple.com/sg/album/saturday-night-question-single/1294670750
I recently binge-watched this anime on Crunchyroll. You might not be able to tell from the opening sequence, but it’s a geeky love story. The ending is predictable, but sweet.
Both the TV size and full version of “Saturday Night Question” are available on U.S. iTunes.
iTunes Link: https://music.apple.com/us/album/392-mikuni-shimokawa-best-selection/267296809
I watched a couple episodes of this anime forever ago. The only thing I remember about it is a cute white dragon and this theme song. Sorry, Dragon Drive. Maybe you’re better than I think you are. (I think I own all the manga. Why? 🤔)
iTunes Link: https://music.apple.com/us/album/awa-come-forever-edition/1086059513
I still love this anime. Too bad it only got one season. It had a live-action series that adapted the whole manga and a live-action film (that came out before the series), but I’m not interested in either. These characters look better in 2D, if you ask me.
iTunes Link: https://music.apple.com/us/album/aoi-honou-syndrome-ep/1185128711
I usually skip ending themes. Not this one. I love it almost as much as the opening.
iTunes Link: https://music.apple.com/us/album/no-future-vacances/1417922989
Not gonna lie: this is one of my favorite anime opening themes ever. I’m not surprised it’s in the U.S. iTunes. After all, Pop Team Epic was pretty popular here, and it even aired on Toonami.
Fox started filming The Masked Singer season four last week (with COVID guidelines in place). Now we know the 14 characters (four less than last season) who will compete for the Golden Mask. They are:
That’s…an eclectic lineup, as usual: more food, another monster (we’ve already had Monster and Miss Monster), and another alien. Plus, we’ve got another character who’s basically a monster, but since they can’t use that name, they called it some silly phrase that means “thing”. Two seasons ago, we had Thingamajig. I’m predicting Mabob and Whosit Whatsit later.
We already knew about Jellyfish because Tom Bergeron let it slip. He said by the time he joined last season, Jellyfish and Taco were the only costumes left. Obviously, he picked Taco.
Who chose the Jellyfish? We’ll find out soon! The Masked Singer season four premieres Wednesday, Sept. 23!
Well, well, well. About two months after adding the current Precure season, Healin’ Good Precure, to their catalog, Crunchyroll has now added season 14: Kirakira Precure a la Mode (as Kira Kira Pretty Cure a la Mode). All 49 subbed episodes are already available.
This means Crunchyroll now has three out of 17 seasons. No, that’s not a lot, but are more on the way? I wouldn’t be surprised at this point.
Thanks, Crunchyroll. It’s about time this 16-year-old franchise gets more exposure. (Note to Winx fans: yes, Precure debuted the same year as Winx Club: 2004. In fact, they premiered less than a week apart.)
I’m Usami Ichika, a second-year in middle school who loves, loves, LOVES sweets! When I heard that my mother was coming back from her job overseas, I decided to challenge myself by making a shortcake just for her! Just then, a fairy named Pekorin crashed in from the sky! It scared the heck out of me, but that was just the beginning! Cream explosions, cake thieves… all kinds of strange things started happening in our town! And as it turned out, there was a weird monster behind it! He’d been stealing the kirakiral energy that lives in sweets, turning all the sweets black!!
You’ve read my rant about how Toei Animation avoids green, which is why Cure Earth, who should obviously be a green Cure, is purple. Some fans have accepted her color, but others still wonder, “What if?” Well, thanks to their Precure fans, we have a decent answer.
YouTubers Lumina | Cure Eternity, Metamorphosis, and Ýukiberrii recolored Earth’s transformation sequence to turn her into a green Cure. Which version do you think looks best? Do you like Earth better in green or purple?
She’s here: the inexplicably-purple Sixth Ranger Cure Earth, the Precure of…Earth. Her Healing Animal partner is Latte, the pooch who’s served as an Earth-sickness alarm and radar since episode one.
Unlike the other Healing Animals, she doesn’t become a Healing Stick. Instead, Asumi places the Element Bottle of Wind on her collar to start the transformation. Clever way to get fans to buy the Talking Latte Doll. “You can’t become Cure Earth without her, kids!”
Jokes aside, here’s Asumi and Latte’s transformation sequence. It’s pretty.
The fourth member of the Healin’ Good Precure team makes her debut this Sunday/Saturday! Her name is Asumi Fuurin, a.k.a. Cure Earth. Yep, she’s the Precure of Earth itself.
What colors come to mind when you think of our planet? Blue and green, right? Well, blue is already taken by Cure Fontaine, the Precure of Water.
But green’s still available! Perfect! Cure Earth must be a green Cure, right?
…Right?
Nope. She’s purple.
I love this uniform. I really do. It’s gorgeous. This is one of my favorite Precure designs ever.
But nothing about it says, “I’m the Precure of Earth.” Pretty or not, she should be a green Cure. Period.
Heck, her civilian dress is green! If she wears green in normal life, why couldn’t her Cure uniform have been green? Her two designs would have looked a lot more cohesive. As it is now, they clash with each other somewhat, almost to the point where they look like two different people. (Yeah, that makes sense for a superhero identity, but you know how magical girl shows are.)
To make things worse, her element is wind. (The “fuu” [風] in her last name means “wind”.) You know what color is often associated with wind? Green!
There’s no way around it: Cure Earth should be green. So why isn’t she? Because like a toddler who hates broccoli (or green peppers in Japan), Toei avoids green like it’s poisonous. In 16 years and 17 seasons, there have only been two truly-green Precure.
One fan theory for why green Cures are rare is that the first one, Cure Mint, a.k.a. Komachi Akimoto, didn’t go over well. She was the least popular member of the Yes! Precure 5 team (probably by doll sales). Toei may have concluded that girls don’t like green, so they started using it less.
I’m not sure this theory is true, though. As I’ll explain later, Toei’s hatred of green predates the Precure franchise.
Anyway, it wasn’t until four seasons later that they introduced another green Cure: Cure March, a.k.a. Nao Midorikawa. If you watched the “Netflix original” Glitter Force, which was really an English dub of Smile Precure!, you might know this character as Glitter Spring, a.k.a. April. I don’t know how popular she was compared to Mint, but based on the comments I’ve read in the Precure fandom, people seem to like her.
But the target audience must not have bought enough Cure March toys and cosplay sets because there hasn’t been another green Cure since. Well, at least not true green.
The next official green Cure was Cure Felice, a.k.a. Hanami Kotoka, from Mahou Tsukai Precure! As you can see, she wore pale green instead of natural green — and not as much of it. She wore a lot more pink and white than green, but she’s still considered a green Precure.
That’s become the trend in this series. The green Cure won’t necessarily wear green (or not much of it), or they’ll wear pale green or teal. But Toei will still lump them together with Mint and March.
As a result, Precure fans get confused about who’s a green Cure and who’s not. It’s not as simple as “she wears green” anymore.
For example, Cure Parfait, a.k.a. Ciel Kirahoshi, from Kirakira Precure a la Mode wore green civilian outfits sometimes. Plus, she’s been grouped with the green Cures in official merchandise and music videos. But she’s not green. She’s rainbow, all the colors.
On the other hand, Cure Milky, a.k.a. Lala Hagoromo, from Star Twinkle Precure is a green Cure. Toei confirmed this in the Halloween episode (episode 37) when the Precure pretended to put on a Super Sentai (Power Rangers) parody stage show to hide their identities. They called themselves the Mihoshi Stars, and Milky was “Mihoshi Green”.
But notice she didn’t wear a lot of green in her civilian outfit, and her hair and Cure uniform are teal. This is the closest Toei has come to a green Cure since March, but it’s still a stretch.
To show you how confusing this gets nowadays, some fans thought Cure Cosmo, a.k.a. Yuni, was the green Cure of Star Twinkle. Look at her, though. She’s obviously wearing blue! Why would anyone think she’s geeen?
Well, “aoi” (青い), the Japanese word for blue, also means “green”. According to Nihongo Master, the Japanese used to think of green as a shade of blue, so they used the same word for both colors. Nowadays, “midori” (緑) for green has become more prevalent, but they still use “aoi” in some cases. For example, the green light is “aoi”.
Is that the real reason why green Cures are rare: because Toei combines them with blue Cures? Of course not. They acknowledge the difference. Cosmo called herself “Mihoshi Blue” in that Super Sentai skit, and both Cure Mint and Cure March had blue teammates (Cure Aqua and Cure Beauty/Glitter Breeze, respectively).
So no, Toei really does have something against green. Like I said, this isn’t the first time they’ve shied away from it in a magical girl series.
In their first cash cow series, Ojamajo Doremi (which I love), the eventually-seven witch apprentices wore pink, orange, blue, red, purple, yellow, and white. There was a green Ojamajo named Nozomi Waku, but she only appeared in the OVA series Ojamajo Doremi Na-i-sho. (“Naisho” means “secrets”.) Also, she technically didn’t have magic powers. You’ll have to watch the episode to see what I mean.
Long story short: Nozomi wasn’t a recurring character, so she doesn’t count. So the main cast didn’t have a green Ojamajo.
You know I can’t help bringing up Winx Club. As it turns out, Rainbow also has a weird history with green.
The first green Winx was Aisha (a.k.a. “Layla”), who was introduced in the second season. She wore green in her first fairy outfit. (It’s my favorite, by the way.) But Rainbow immediately started having second thoughts and made her first Enchantix outfit in season three blue. (Enchantix was the next fairy form after Charmix.)
But blue belonged to Bloom, the fire fairy. (Yeah, it’s another Cure Earth situation.) So in the middle of the season, Rainbow suddenly switched Aisha back to green. Was there any explanation in-universe? Nope. She just started wearing green as if she had been the whole time.
To be honest, I preferred her blue Enchantix. Her green one is ugly to me, but I understand Rainbow’s decision. We didn’t need two blue Winx.
In season four, Rainbow shifted Aisha to cyan in her Believix form to make room for who we thought would be the seventh Winx: Roxy. But after they spent more than a year promoting her as a Winx, Rainbow canceled her club membership. (Maybe producing seven dolls per line was too expensive.) She still shows up from time to time, but she’s just an “adventure companion” now. (That’s literally what a staff member called her.)
After Roxy’s exit, Aisha went back to green in season five for her first new transformation, Harmonix. Then she changed again to teal in her Sirenix form. Flora, the Fairy of Nature, also wore green in both Harmonix and Sirenix. (She was originally the pink Winx.)
Then came season six. Spoiler alert: the Winx restored Bloom’s sister Daphne’s spirit to her body in the previous season, and it turned out she had Sirenix because…I don’t wanna talk about it. Anyway, she wore an elegant golden dress and masquerade-style mask in her spirit form. But when she became corporeal again, Rainbow said, “You know what? We don’t have enough green fairies in this show.”
So Aisha wore teal again in her new transformations, and Daphne wore green. She also got a few new civilian outfits, most of which had shades of green.
In season seven, the Winx benched Daphne and pulled Roxy out of retirement. She also got new civilian outfits but not a new transformation. Aisha kept teal in her Butterflix transformation before switching to purple (huh?) for the second new form: Tynix. Flora wore green in Butterflix and pink in Tynix, and out of nowhere, Tecna, the Fairy of Technology, took over green in Tynix. (Green was always her secondary color, but never her main color until that season.)
The most recent season had one new transformation: Cosmix. None of the Winx wore green in that form. But Sirenix made a comeback with two new designs for each Winx (one not explained in the show). In the first style, only Flora wore green (Aisha wore purple), and in the second style — a wintry version called Crystal Sirenix — Tecna wore green again.
Finally, in the Netflix spin-off World of Winx, Tecna wore green in her Dreamix form, and she and Flora both wore green in Onyrix. Aisha wore a green Onyrix outfit in an animation error, but her real outfit was purple. (I wonder if Rainbow thought about dressing her in green again, but changed their minds.)
To sum it up: the only main fairy who has consistently worn green is Roxy. But that’s just because she’s only had one transformation since her debut. Poor girl. To think she was almost a Winx…
Back to Precure. While some fans have accepted that Cure Earth is purple, a lot more feel the same way I do. Green would have been better. Besides, if Toei thinks we hate green, they’re wrong. We love green magical girls just like all the others.
I found a transformation montage that features Cure Mint, Cure March, Aisha, Flora, Mew Lettuce, Sailor Jupiter, Itsuki from Yuki Yuna is a Hero, and a lot of other green-clad heroines. Enjoy! (Warning: A little nudity because…anime. 🙄 )
Happy Odaiba Memorial Day, Digimon fans! I didn’t plan anything special this year, but I still wanted to mark the occasion somehow. I hope you have an awesome day (or rest of your day)!
Original Version (Romaji) | Original Version (English Translation) | tri. Version (Romaji) | tri. Version (English Translation)
Even with these unreliable wings full of lingering images
I’m sure I can fly
On my love
VERSE
I’ll become a happy butterfly, riding the glittering wind
And come and see you soon
You’d be better off forgetting all your problems
This is no time to joke around
I wonder — whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa — what will reach the sky?
But — whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa — I don’t even know what I’m doing tomorrow
CHORUS
In the empty world after an endless dream
Yes, it seems even my precious thoughts will fail me, but…
Even with these unreliable wings full of lingering images
I’m sure I can fly
On my love
Translated by me
Source:
Happy Odaiba Memorial Day, Digimon fans! I didn’t plan anything special this year, but I still wanted to mark the occasion somehow. I hope you have an awesome day (or rest of your day)!
Original Version (Romaji) | Original Version (English Translation) | tri. Version (Romaji) | tri. Version (English Translation)
VERSE
I’ll become a happy butterfly, riding the glittering wind
And come and see you soon
You’d be better off forgetting all your problems
This is no time to joke around
I wonder — whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa — what will reach the sky?
But — whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa — I don’t even know what I’m doing tomorrow
CHORUS
In the empty world after an endless dream
Yes, it seems even my precious thoughts will fail me, but…
Even with these unreliable wings full of lingering images
I’m sure I can fly on my love
Translated by me
Source:
