Digimon Adventure/Headscratchers


 * Why the hell has the English dub different background music? The Japanese one has Bolero as it's motif. Same with the German version. Why not the English one? That really bugs me.
 * It's quite common in anime, Saban even has a habit of reusing the same soundtrack for quite a few of their series.. What really bugs this troper about it (among others) is the overuse of the Digimon Theme song... In Japan the opening is Butterfly, it has two ending themes and plays Brave Heart during evolutions and fights.. The Saban dub uses the Digimon Theme for all of these, at least for both the Digimon Adventures' series. (Never saw the Tamers-dub so...) It gets old pretty fast.
 * Legal issues force all but the most rigidly puritan dubbers from using the original music (Though it’s a little easier these days I hear). The dub had likely about two dollars in the music budget, and just couldn't compete for either quality or quantity.
 * Honestly the dub score isn't half bad, and its an orchestral score instead of some synthesize crap like the first two seasons of the Sailor Moon dub. The only flaw with the Saban music is whovever placed it, had no idea what they were doing since some cues played at the wrong scene (ex dramatic music for nothing in particular happening
 * Just watched the Second movie Our War Game, and seeing it made me remember an old IJBM: Why didn't Omega/Omnimon just shoot Diaboromon with his cannon. There was no reason for him not to besides having them stop the countdown just in time.
 * Best guess is that the cannon isn't a particularly accurate one. It's fine for taking out large numbers of enemies at once, but trying to aim for just one is not so easy. Better to just go for the sure thing with the sword. Plus firing that cannon was presumably using up energy, so even if he fired repeatedly, there was probably a risk of running out of energy and devolving before landing a shot.
 * In addition, we're never told that the Diaboromon copies were as strong as the original. There's no guarantee that the cannon would kill him in one shot. And remember, they only have one shot. Better to go for the sure-thing sword.
 * Also, Diaboromon is shown to be freaking fast in all his forms. He might be able to dodge a shot from Omnimon's cannon, because he can see it coming, but charging in at higher speeds and stabbing him running him through is harder to predict and even if he dodged that, they'd be close enough to finish him quickly anyway.
 * Nope, he wouldn't have even been able to dodge the cannon or the sword either way. He was being slowed down by the e-mails all the kids were sending him.
 * Omnimon was shown to be attempting to aim at Dioboromon when he was alone, but he kept moving, he was certainly too fast to hit. He closed in for the kill with his sword before Izzy redirected the mail. Hence, it was more a case of 'I'm already chargeing in, why stop?'
 * After the Digidestined first met MetalSeadramon and were defeated by the revelation he to was Mega, they met Machinedramon and he was revealed to take out 8 champions like a birthday candle, so why did they waste their time having their Digimon digivolve to Ultimate instead of just Warp-digivolving Agumon and Gabumon?
 * They were still new to fighting Megas at that point and didn't know how much they'd need to throw at them. Sure, they needed to go for broke against Veno Myotismon but he had always Curb Stomped them.
 * Gabumon and Agumon were already in champion form at that time, meaning they had to de-digivolve before they could become their mega forms. They probably considered it faster and safer(considering the kids were in danger) to become ultimates instead.
 * The movie showed both that Champions can Warp-Digivolve, and Ultimates can Digivolve to Mega. (and presumably, though not shown, Rookie to Ultimate)
 * I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet, but in one episode (near the end, I think) they mentioned five original Digidestined, but never brought them up again. What. the. Hell. Were the writers just so lazy they didn't want to explain this further?!?!?
 * That mention of the original Chosen was part of a legend Leomon told Taichi and co. to explain their presence in the Digital World. It's unclear whether or not they ever actually existed.
 * I actually believe Digimon Frontier was made to help this. There were  five member of Takuya's group. Several Digimon that would later appear as partners were Celestial types.
 * I agree with this above as there are several things that appear to be retconned from Frontier back to Adventure.
 * The problem being Frontier as absolutely nothing to do with Adventure. Their set in different continuities plus Frontier takes place in the then present day of 2002 when it aired (see 11-year-olds with cellphones) instead of before Adventure in 1999, when kids with cellphones wasn't common, add to the fact that the original 5 Digidestined sealed away Apocalymon when the Frontier kids fought Lucemon and yeah.
 * Though, actually, the episode in question didn't say that the original five fought Apocalymon, just that they fought a great evil from behind the fire.
 * IIRC, there were Digimon silhouettes as well as child silhouettes shown when Leomon told them about the legend, so it couldn't have been the kids from Frontier.
 * Actually, Leomon wasn't the one who told them about the original team. It was Gennai by means of a computer message. My thoughts are that it was basically Taichi visualizing the team, not necessarily the actual team, so that means that everything is up in the air as far as partners are concerned. On the topic of Frontier being about the original digidestined: it is possible that that was the original intent with the series, but due to 02's writing ending up screwing everything up, they probably wanted to distance themselves from the Adventure universe and so added things to make it not be about the original team (much like how Tamers was originally going to be an Adventure sequal but that ended up getting derailed).
 * Just how did Ogremon get in that box in episode 11? The box was well sealed from the look of things, not to mention in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight.
 * Screw the Rules I Have Plot?
 * Ogremon can breathe underwater.
 * IIRC, he can't swim.
 * The biggest question is, how did the box manage to drift there perfectly? Really, man...
 * During the Dark Masters Arc, Joe proves just how Crazy Prepared he is by revealing that he brought toilet paper with him, and he ends up using it as a bandage. Pretty hardcore. But what I don't understand is this: If he's so crazy prepared, why didn't he, oh I don't know, BRING A FIRST AID KIT WITH HIM? He says that, when packing stuff, "Toilet paper was the first thing I thought of", and sure it's pretty useful and good to have when you're in the middle of nowhere, but he's the son of a doctor and he knows first aid. Wouldn't a first aid kit be sort of necessary? This actually makes Leomon's death in the English dub cruelly funny for me, as Joe remarks about how "Toilet paper's not going to help". I can't help but think "Well, if you'd have brought a first aid kit, you might have been able to help just a little bit..."
 * Same Troper as above, and I've found something else about Joe that annoys me (don't get me wrong, he's actually my fave character, but still...). In episode 7, he goes off to climb the mountain on his own, so that he can find out what's on the island without anyone else getting hurt. Sounds like a plan. Except that, being an Air Cadet, I've been taught that if you're going to climb any form of mountain, you have a group of at least 4 people. I know he "didn't want anyone else hurt", but still, climbing up that mountain on his own, especially at night when it's easier for him to get lost of hurt himself, is practically suicide. And why did he tell Gomamon to go back? I understand that he didn't like him at that point, but they'd already established that there were dangerous Digimon on that mountain. He could have gotten hurt not just from falling, but from being eaten by a big nasty beasty. What was he thinking?
 * He was thinking that his father had never given him a choice on how to live his life before, for years and years he had to do things because he was the oldest, or he had to be a doctor, or he had to do this. So when he got to the Digital World that's all he had to go on, that it was his responsibility to do everything because he was the oldest. It's why it took nearly 30 episodes for them to declare a leader in the group and Taichi was shocked he was Chosen. In Japan your 'Senpai' is an important figure in your life even beyond school. His big character development was at the end on the behest of his brother choosing "I want to become a doctor" not "Dad told me to become a doctor so that's what I have to do". In the end he and Sora stand on two polar opposites, as she never listened to her mother and he obeyed every word his father said. She had to learn to love and accept others love, and he had to learn to be more honest to his own feelings and to act upon them. The clearest indication is with his partner Gomamon, who seems like a snotty little punk until you realize "He never lies". If he hates an idea he tells you, if he likes an idea he tells you, but he never just quietly goes 'Yes Sir' and fumes. As for the Toilet Paper I have no idea.
 * I understand that about his character, yes, but it's still the idea that he's the oldest and he seems to have some experience of climbing (he says as he's about to start that he's good at it, and you generally don't know that you're good at mountain climbing unless you've done it before. Trust me, it's not the easiest statement to make, especially when you're 12). Responsibility or not, it's still an incredibly dangerous idea for him to have gone climbing all by himself in the middle of the night without telling anyone what you were planning. You can't just climb a mountain on a whim. What he could have done, which would have also shown leadership skills (remember at this point he felt he should have been the leader), was wait til morning when everyone was less stressed, then suggested that he, Gomamon, Tai and Agumon should climb the mountain. That way they have a safe number of people going, they have more protection from nasty Digimon, and the people who didn't want to go up could stay behind and do whatever. That's intelligent. Or, better yet, why didn't they, oh I don't know, use Birdramon to fly up to the top in the first place?! That's what really annoyed me in that episode: Joe and Gomamon spend all night climbing the mountain, only for Tai and Sora to just sweep in at the end. It nearly makes their trip meaningless. So yeah, I understand Joe's reasoning, but he could have done it a bit differently.
 * Not taking Gomamon makes some sense, as he's a seal. Climbing wouldn't exactly be his forte and might actually make the trek itself more dangerous for having to carry him at points. Taking just Tai and Agumon doesn't lessen the danger any either, but redirects it. Besides, they'd only been in the digital world for four days. Not being used to how this world works may have influenced a lot of his decisions. With the mountain climber tidbit, Joe, Tai, and Sora are also the only ones of the group who participates in a physical activity. Splitting up the group, especially sending two of your physical people away, is not generally a good idea when becoming some dinosaurs nom noms is a very real possibility.
 * ...Well damn. I've been defeated. Still doesn't explain why he didn't bring a damn first aid kit with him. And besides, taking Gomamon would have been perfectly reasonable...he can summon fish, you know! :D And besides, why DIDN'T they just fly up when they could have? They could have averted the whole thing if, whilst Tai and Matt were arguing, Sora just said "You know, we could just fly up...". They had, like, two flying Champion/Adult Level Digimon at that point, so it wasn't impossible for them to do. And no one has commented about the whole First Aid Kit thing.
 * As far as the First Aid Kit goes, I agree that it makes no sense that he wouldn't have one, being both Crazy Prepared and having some medical knowledge. My guess is he did bring a First Aid Kit. He used the toilet paper to bandage Ogremon because Ogremon is so big that normal-sized bandages would have been too short. And when Leomon was hit the injuries were too severe for basic first aid to be any use. Since he took a major hit in the middle of his back he could have internal hemmorhaging, organ damage, broken vertebrae, severe shock, and a First Aid Kit wouldn't be much help with any of that.
 * As for the flying thing, back then the general rule was that the Digimon couldn't evolve until one of the kids were in danger; I'm assuming that Piyomon could only evolve into Birdramon at that point because Sora and Tai were aware that Joe might be in danger and need their help. Besides, it was Joe's Day in The Limelight, they needed some excuse to have him climb the mountain himself.
 * Original Troper here again...and have you ever tried to clean up something using toilet paper? No? It's pretty absorbent, so while a little liquid is okay, loads of blood would saturate it in the blink of an eye. Add this to the fact that it's very, VERY easy to tear, and you'd realize that they make quite poor bandages. They're good for when you're practising how to tie bandages, but other than that...okay, I admit that a First Aid kit would have done nothing for Saberleomon, but that doesn't make the line "Toilet paper isn't going to help" any better (or less funny). And on the whole "climbing the mountain by yourself with no supplies, at night and with no one knowing where you are"...did anyone see the film 127 Hours? I didn't, because I'm a wimp, but that's a perfect example of what happens when you're careless with hiking. While actually doing the hike, how many thin ledges did he walk over? How many crevices did he climb round? Climbing in an environment like that is hard enough, never mind doing it in the dark when you can't see your obstacles very well. And yeah, I admit that being a seal makes him slightly useless, but Gomamon could at least help him navigate around without dying - their remark about what a good team they made was more important than it sounds, since they were genuinely looking out for each other. Even if your companion is a seal who's going to be slower than you, it's still better than nothing, and it at least makes you a little safer.
 * Joe has to the courageous leader and look out for the others. He made an example out of himself by doing the selfless act of scouting ahead. Sure, that thought was a little dim (as the island is infested with threats which Gomamon wouldn't have been sufficient for tackling head-on) but, ultimately? He's thirteen years old and thrust into the role of ensuring the survival of six other individuals. Where hasty decisions are concerned I think we can afford to cut him some slack.
 * Something that always bugged me: we know that the Dark Masters were around in the digital world for quite a while before the children even got there. So...Why didn't they just take over the digital world right away? 4 mega levels should have been able to utterly trounce any opposition that might have been put up by Devimon, Etemon, and Myotismon, and the children wouldn't have stood a chance against them either with the power levels they started out at. So why sit around and wait to make their move until after Myotismon and the children left during the 8th child arc?
 * Bored? Taking over other areas? Being held back by the Digital Sovereign? Milleniummon doing things? Ryo being a thorn in their side.
 * They probably didn't want to pick a fight with the destined heroes, maybe worrying about accidentally forcing the kids' power levels up out of desperation, so they waited for a bit and let them go off to stop Myotismon before doing their thing. They probably didn't expect the kids to trounce Myotismon as fast as they did, and thanks to the time discrepancy between the worlds that would have given them even more time than they already had to prepare. By the time the kids return the Dark Masters have been ruling the roost for a while now, and they've gotten arrogant enough that the prior restraint that kept them in the shadows is replaced with sheer confidence. At least, that's my opinion.
 * There's apparently a set of Japan-only novel adaptations of Adventure that explain the Dark Masters were indeed fighting the Sovereigns. Around the time of Myotismon, they finally came out victorious, sealed the Sovereigns away, and went along with their plan.
 * The same novel also gives Myotismon's excuse: he was more concerned with invading the Real World to take out the eighth child who was prophesied to defeat him instead of everyone else. Taking out the other seven would have been a bonus, but not something to go out of your way for. Etemon probably just didn't want to bother crossing the ocean to fight them without his Dark Network.
 * Does Tai's Plot Induced Stupidity in the SkullGreymon episode not bother anyone else? Tai's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he's neither cruel nor stupid enough to pull what he does there.
 * He wanted Agumon to evolve to Ultimate/Perfect Level so bad he lost sight of everything else.
 * To elaborate, they had just recently met Etemon, who had soundly beaten Greymon and Garurumon and who was now tracking them down with his Dark Network. Tai was desperate for Agumon to become stronger so they could be prepared when Etemon caught up to them again, and that combined with his ego boost of being the only kid at the time with his crest, and with it the heavy responsibility of being the only one strong enough to protect the group, resulted in his pretty justified but not well thought-out attempt to try and rush Agumon's evolution. (On a related note I think the episode actually showed off that Tai was pretty smart, or at the least Genre Savvy, since he knew the only way for Agumon to evolve was to either give him lots of energy or if Tai himself got into trouble)
 * Just a small one, in the pilot episode, blizzard, aurora, giant wall of water aside, when the digivices were floating up, whilst most of the Digidestined grabbed theirs around chest height, Joe caught his just above his head. Does that mean if they didn't take them, the digivices would've kept ascending into the sky?
 * I suppose it could have been their first test of character. If the kid isn't brave enough to touch a floating Tamagotchi, what chance do they have in the Digital World?
 * If Wizardmon is the only Digimon confirmed to be Killed Off for Real and 02 is the sequel, why didn't Leomon, Piximon, Pumpkinmon, and Gotsumon return when pretty much everyone else came back? I know Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon were killed in the real world like Wizardmon, but that doesn't excuse why Leomon and Piximon never returned.
 * Just because we don't see them doesn't mean they haven't returned.
 * Actually, that's a really good point. Wasn't Leomon capable of becoming a mega without the need for any of the crests? Shouldn't finding him have been the highest priority once the emperor had taken over?
 * They would have been reborn as baby digimon. How would you be able to tell if they'd been reborn or not? It had only been two years since Primary Village had been restored, even if they'd been reborn at that point they wouldn't have had time to digivolve to a reconisable form. Only the digidestined partners can digivolve at the drop of a hat because they borrow power from the children, everyone else has to do it the slow way. And there's no proof they'd remember their old lives even when they were reborn. Sure, Patamon did but he was a partner digimon so the digivice may have saved some of his information when he reformed.
 * When they first met Machinedramon, all the Digimon digivolved to Ultimate and charged. Why did they do that? They were already trounced by Metal Seadramon,surely by now they were already Genre Savvy enough to have Agumon and Gabumon warp-digivolve. Not to mention Izzy already confirmed Machinedramon was Mega.
 * Theirs and the lives of the Digidestined were on the line. With that in mind I don't believe for a second that any of the Digimon had the selfish notion of allowing War Greymon and Metal Gururumon to shoulder all of the responsibility. Or worse, to lie down like dogs and perish because they the capability to adequately harm any of the Mega-level Digimon. For a better example: A prize-fighter is being hostile and disrespectful to you and is seeking to take out some level of aggression on your face. There is no positive out-come and the situation is going to be resolved in violence--you know this. Do you put up an effort to defend yourself or do you face violence sans retaliation because you lack the experience, footwork and cardio to match your adversary?
 * They were still new to fighting megas and digimon can vary greately powerwise even if at a higher level. The kids have smacked around Champions with their Rookies, Andromon was fighting Machinedramon as an Ultimate and putting up a decent fight so there's no way for them to know that seven Ultimates couldn't have handled one Mega.
 * Even though exactly that had happened to them less than a day ago against VenomMyotismon?
 * In the Digimon Pendulum V-Pets, the Virus-attribute Mega-level Digimon were Piedmon, Puppetmon, Machinedramon, MetalEtemon, and...Pukumon. MetalSeadramon was and is a Data-attribute. Now, the show had a different role for MetalEtemon, but why was MetalSeadramon made a Dark Master rather than Pukumon?
 * Which one actully looks as if he could be a threat.
 * Well damn, this troper has got you there. For those who don't know who Pukumon is...here you go. And compare that to MetalSeadramon. Who looks more powerful and indimidating? *beat*, I thought so.
 * This was probably an Ass Pull because War Greymon and Metal Garurumon couldn't fight Metal Etemon,but if Zudmon's Hammer was Chrome Digizoid,why didn't he chuck it at Metal Seadramon's head right as War Greymon was taken in? Whamon wouldn't have had to die,and Metal Seadramon's Chrome Digizoid Skull might've cracked as well.
 * Maybe Zudomon hadn't become strong enough at that point? The digimon got stronger as they fought more and more battles. Zudomon was still pretty new at this point but had had much more experience when they ran into Metal Etemon.
 * Zudomon's strength has nothing to do with what his hammer is made out of. For that matter Metal Etemon's demise never made much sense either. We know that 8 Ultimate level digimon could do nothing to a Mega level digimon as seen in the kids scrimmage with Machine Dramon. It makes no sense how 2 Ultimate level digimon could destroy someone like Etemon.
 * This is one I find just a little annoying. Alright, Piedmon turns their two Megas into keychains, fine...then Andromon, an Ultimate starts fighting him and puts up a decent fight. And the other Digidestined run away. Now, Piedmon isn't weaker here, he just didn't level grind and clearly Andramon was defeated offscreen realtively quickly. Why didn't the Digidestined just Digivolve to Ultimate and beat the tar out of him? We see when Angewomon and Garudamon fight him that they've gotten strong enough to put up a decent fight on their own and he had to physically restrain them to turn them into keychains, if all five of the other Digidestined Digimon that could go to Ultimate had done so plus Angemon, who as a Champion still put up a fight against Piedmon and actually hurt him, teamed up on him all at once, having gotten stronger throughout the arc, they could've beat him, so why not? Were they too scared to fight or just didn't think about it at the time? (please note, this isn't a really "serious" gripe, just something that came to mind. I didn't mind it too much and loved the episode, just something that bugged me).
 * I haven't seen that episode in a while, but I'm guessing it's because of the fact that if they all ganged up on him at once it would make it easier for Piedmon just to chuck his magic sheet over all of them at the same time, changing them all to keychains and leaving the Digidestined completely helpless. Besides, last time they tried to all gang up on the Big Bad in the highest form they could at the time, it worked for all of five seconds before Devimon just knocked them all away.
 * It was established that machine Digimon were significantly stronger, or at least much tougher to hurt, than other kinds of Digimon. Andromon was able to put up so much of a fight because he engaged Piedmon in hand-to-hand which gave him a slight advantage. However, he manages to cause no real damage and was defeated as soon as Piedmon got a bit of space.
 * Piedmon beats the stuffing out of WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon in his first appearance, so the Digidestined's Ultimate level Digimon wouldn't accomplish anything.
 * In their first fight they were fresh megas, the fight against Piedmon only being their second appearance so they weren't at their best then. The Ultimates were far more experienced and they had two holy type digimon so they might have made a difference if they'd been used. The kids were busy panicking though.
 * A group of kids see two of their strongest allies get turned into keychains? Yeah, if I was their age, and someone else was willing to fight and told me to run, I would take that opportunity.
 * Why is Angewomon a level above Angemon? Damn sexist angels.
 * No, the sexist thing is that Angemon is stronger than Angewomon despite her being a level higher.
 * Since when is Angemon stronger? Magnaangemon, sure, but she seems above Angemon.
 * I think the problem is rather Tailmon/Gatomon being Champion level. It's most likely because of her position in the beginning, but it's still a bit frustrating, because She looks exactly like all the other Rookie mons, not to mention that she doesn't really seem all that stronger than them. Yeah, I know that size doesn't always correlate with power, but still.
 * Bear in mind, though, that one moment that sticks out in this troper's mind is when the seven Chosen first encountered Tailmon, who promptly knocked Greymon, Kabuterimon and Togemon (I think) flying. As a villian, she beat three equal-level digimon on her own. Odd, isn't it, that after she joins, the only way she can do anything useful is if she super-evolves to Angewomon
 * Why has there been no DVD releases of the series?
 * Upon the revelation that all the Digi Destined witnessed the Digimon fight at Highton View Terrace and that the 8th child must've seen it to,how did they not deduce immediatley that Kari was it. Tai came back before and Kari already knew of Koromon,and Tai even mentioned how they were together to witness Greymon fight witha loving image of Kari in a bunny suit in a flashback. Why do they never even consider that?
 * Probably because they were expecting the 8th child to already have a digivice or even a digimon, something which Kari definitely had not. Also, Kari was very obviously never called to the digital world. Tai probably considered her first, but dismissed it because of those reasons.
 * As I recall, they did consider Kari at first but rule it out quickly as she had no digimon or digivice.
 * Why didn't the radar on the digivices pick up Sora when she was stalking the rest of the group? And for that matter, why did the radar suddenly pop up when Tai returned from the real world, and not any of the other times the group was split, like when file island fell apart, or when Sora was kidnapped?
 * At some point in the past, Sora's mom had an affair with a Japanese Vampire, resulting in Sora. Her vampiric heritage gifted her with Red Eyes and various stealth-enhancement capabilities, including radar suppression. She instinctively invokes these abilities for herself and her "covenmates" in stressful situations, so as to avoid detection by potential enemies. Unfortunately, instinctive reactions suck at distinguishing between coven-separation (File Island, Tai's Sabbatical) and abduction (the Upside-Down Pyramid), making things difficult for everyone until some point during Tai's Sabbatical, when she learned to consciously control them.
 * Great theory that perfectly fits in the existing universe. However, that still doesn't explain why none of the digivices picked up anyone during the seperation of file island.
 * I did say "herself and covenmates."
 * She only met TK five days prior and we can see most of the events that passed during that period, so there is no way he already was initiated in any coven.
 * I use "coven" to refer to any social group of which a (half-)vampire is a member, kind of like a pack of wolves, or a murder of crows. No initiation required. As for the short time-span between meeting TK and considering him part of her coven, those five days were spent in life threatening peril in a strange place, which tends to hasten the formation of social bonds.
 * I have a small issue with the dub (there's something new). Apparently the violent elements were toned down for the saturday morning viewers (or whenever it aired). If this is true, why did they change the level names from Baby, Baby II (okay, that's a bit unwieldy), Child and Adult to In-Training, Fresh, Rookie, and Champion? It sort of subdues the fact that Digimon grow by being raised and nurtured by pure, innocent children, and that their growth is simply akin to growing up and maturing, rather than becoming bigger, badder fighting machines.
 * I guess that was sort of the point. The new names imply the digimon are training and have always been training. Aka, born to battle. In the old version, they were just people, but were still forced to fight all the time.


 * None of their crests make sense and should be named other things. Shouldn't Matt's crest be called the crest of Loyalty rather then Friendship? He has major problems trusting people and being a true friend, yet he is astoundingly loyal. That seems to be his trademark trait more so then Friendship. As he grows threw out the series he becomes an extremely loyal steadfast friend to those he cares about. Friendship doesn't quite fit him though. Kari's crest of Light also has never made sense. It should be called the crest of Righteousness since that's when it glows when she is self-righteous. Mimi's crest should be called Empathy or Compassion -- not Sincerity, her crest doesn't glow when she is necessarily sincere. She is sincere all the time there would be no growth required to activate it since she is always honest and says what's on her mind. Even when she is being a shallow, obnoxious brat she is being sincere. The only time that her crest glows is when she recognizes other peoples feelings, emotions and pain. Izzy's crest for the record shouldn't be Knowledge it should be Curiosity or Wonder.
 * A few of these make a bit more sense in the original. Matt was always making decisions that helped the other children, but weren't really all that good for the group (in a contrast to Tai). Mimi's crest was originally called purity, which pretty much equated to loyalty to your true self. Kari's crest is a bit of a pun, since she was originally called hikari, which means light (which makes her name Light Yagami). Plus, she seems to act as the force of that light entity, so it makes a degree of sense. Izzy's crest of knowledge makes sense in both versions. Activating the crest requires you to lose the trait and regain it, and in the episode where it first activated, Izzy also lost his knowledge.
 * Actually the reason why Izzy's crest glowed was because he lost and then regained his curiosity and thirst for information. At least according to the dub. Demi Devimon/Myotismon wanted Izzy to stop asking questions and stop being curious so his crest would never glow, Izzy was still smart so Knowledge is not what activates his crest. That being said I wouldn't say Knowledge itself is wrong persay for his crest/virtue. But I think it's additive on a caveat, Izzy's crest is the search or pursuit of knowledge or information. His virtue isn't simply being "smart". I think all the crests were supposed to be a journey for all of the characters in terms of finding things within themselves that they didn't know were originally there. For instance Tai thought being courageous was simply going in recklessly and boorishly and not thinking of the consequences, when that's not what it is at all. True Bravery comes from doing things even though you are scared to act. Same for Mimi in her compassion/empathy for others, Joe's journey of taking responsibility for others, and so on and so forth. Which is why I think most of them worked. I personally never understood how Sora's crest wasn't able to glow. She loved everyone and committed loving acts all during the Myotismon arc. It would have made more sense for her crest to be something like Understanding or Awareness rather then Love not being able to be activated.