Japanese Title: Roar! Ikkakumon
On a mountain far away, black gears rise into the air...The weather has gotten colder, and the children are now suffering from exhaustion due to it. Taichi tries to cheer them up by saying that it’ll be fun if it snows, and all of the kids wistfully start to think up things they could do if it snows - all of them, that is, except Jou, who’s fussing over everyone and worried about all of the potential disastrous consequences of snow, despite Sora’s attempts to get him to calm down. Jou declares himself the one who’s responsible for protecting everyone, because he’s the eldest.
Exactly as Taichi predicts, it does snow, and Jou worries on what they will do. However, the Digimon smell something weird, and the kids run over to what they believe are hot springs...only to find out that the water’s too hot to get into. (Sorry, we’re not getting the Hot Springs Episode until a little later.) The kids relax, especially because there seems to inexplicably be a refrigerator full of eggs nearby, but Jou continues to freak out, feeling like he’s the Only Sane Man here.
Despite Jou’s protests, the kids decide to have the eggs to eat, reasoning that if the owner of the refrigerator finds out, they’ll be sympathetic to the kids’ plight. The kids and Digimon work together to fry and boil the eggs, while Jou wonders how everyone can be so carefree. While eating , Jou brings up the subject of home, and the kids attempt to stave off the homesickness by talking about what they like on their eggs. As they bring up their increasingly bizarre preferences for eating with eggs (in contrast to Jou’s simple salt and pepper), Jou only feels more alienated.
- Jou: Japanese culture is collapsing before my very eyes!
Jou stubbornly insists that one shouldn’t live putting such ridiculous stuff on their eggs, while Gomamon playfully teases him over being so stubborn. Jou, however, is so dead-set on treating it as Serious Business that he exhausts himself, protesting that he’s not the one angry, it’s everyone else acting crazy.
Taichi and Yamato have (yet another) fight, this time over whether they should try climbing the nearby mountain, Infinity Moutain or not (Taichi believing they can see a good view from there to get an idea of their surroundings, Yamato worried that it’s too dangerous). Jou tries to get the fight to break up, but is asked by both boys to take a side, as he’s able to see both sides of the situation, it only gets the fight more heated, and Sora ends up being the one who has to break it up.
Deciding that it’s his responsibility, Jou decides to scale the mountain himself after everyone is asleep. Gomamon accompanies him, claiming that he has something to see himself on that mountain, and encourages him to lighten up. After some hard climbing, with Gomamon and Jou helping each other up, they reach around the halfway point, upon which the mountain begins to shake...and spits out the black gears that had been corrupting Digimon in the prior episodes. Seeing this, Jou decides he needs to check it out.
When they get to the area where the gears were released, they end up unable to find anything about it, and soon Gomamon realizes that they’re being approached by Unimon, whom Gomamon declares a “smart, gentle Digimon”, which of course means that they’re going to be attacked by Unimon later in the episode.
Jou, being as smart as he is, expresses concern that he might end up like the others, but Unimon does seem to be gentle as Gomamon describes, as he just stops by for a drink off a nearby waterfall. This peace, however, is interrupted as a black gear comes from the sky and embeds itself in Unimon’s back, causing Unimon’s eyes to go red and causing Unimon himself to attack Jou and Gomamon.
Sora wakes up and sees a note in the dirt left by Jou saying that he’ll be back. Figuring out quickly that he went to Infinity Mountain, she wakes everyone up. As a result, Birdramon, along with Sora, Taichi, and Agumon, arrive just in time to save Jou and Gomamon from a rampaging Unimon. Unfortunately, despite Birdramon and Greymon’s efforts, they are unable to defeat Unimon. Jou, now knowing for sure that the black gear is what’s causing the rampage, decides to take matters into his own hands and remove it himself, to Gomamon’s horror. Jou declares that it’s his duty to protect everyone, because he’s the eldest, but is thrown off by Unimon and begins to fall to the ground, triggering Gomamon’s evolution into Ikkakumon. Ikkakumon quickly catches Jou and shoots directly at the gear, freeing Unimon.
Taichi apologizes to Jou, and Jou thanks Gomamon for saving everyone. Taichi, Sora, Jou, and their Digimon partners climb up the rest of the mountain and find that the island that they’re on (File Island) is a small, solitary island in the sea, with no major nearby landforms in sight...
Tropes
- A Day in the Limelight: This episode follows Joe and how he deals with his responsibilities to the group as their eldest member. It also demonstrates how Gomamon brings out a less haughty and more casual side to his partner.
- Bizarre Taste in Food: When the kids discuss how they like their eggs, most say normal things until Izzy says he likes his with ponzu note (mustard and jelly beans in the dub), freaking out the kids (except dub TK who thinks jelly beans sound great). Mimi says they're all weird and that eggs are best with sugar and cream (maple syrup in the dub), thoroughly disgusting her friends, especially uptight Joe.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Joe makes good points for both sides of Taichi and Yamato's debate. Taichi thinks that by traveling up Infinity Mountain that they could get a bird's eye view of everything and make traveling easier but Yamato doesn't want to risk it due to the possibility of encountering more hostile digimon. Joe's mediating goes out the window when the other boys won't stop biting each other's heads off and it takes Sora to snap all three of them out of it.
- Gratuitous English: Japanese only; Taichi exclaims "Lucky!" upon seeing a refrigerator out in the middle of the geysers.
- Hellish Horse: Unimon is transformed into one via the black gear in his back.
- Moment Killer: Joe muses at dinner that all this trouble with the eggs wouldn't have to be if they were at home. Doubles as Innocently Insensitive as it brings down some of the other kids like Mimi and T.K. Sora quickly changes the subject to what they like with their eggs.
- Monster of the Week: Joe and Gomamon fight a Unimon corrupted by a black gear when they go to the mountain by themselves. The battle triggers Gomamon's first evolution into Ikkakumon.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Unimon immediately flees the scene upon his black gear being destroyed. He doesn't even bother with a thank you for freeing him. Jerk.
- Suddenly Voiced: Unimon doesn't have a proper voice in the original Japanese. Ironically, in the dub, Gomamon mentions in the Digimon Analyzer that Unimon isn't much of a talker.
- To Be Lawful or Good: Despite being strapped for food, Joe is reluctant to eat the eggs in the fridge they find, afraid they might belong to someone else, but the rest of the kids' reason that that hypothetical someone would understand, given the situation they're in.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Joe's reaction in seeing the refrigerator for the first time.
