Anime Psi-ke out of a reboot so far
NOTE: This review is up to episode 33 of the series, the exact halfway point.
It seems like the direction for the series was “make the Digimon look cool”, rather than character development. It definitely succeeds at the former...but WOW, does the latter suffer.
The biggest sign of the altered priorities- Tai and Matt never really argue like they did originally. On some level, that can be a good thing and give the series a more relaxed feel, but by not letting viewers see their differences, it’s more difficult to discern characterization. It’s also really evident in the episodes where the kids unlock their partners’ Perfect levels that the emotion’s just not there. With the exception of Izzy and Joe- maybe Mimi, too- most of these episodes lack the emotion their 1999 counterparts conveyed, especially Sora’s. It’s also evident the second time the kids are split from episode 28 to currently, as we only see snippets of what would have been full episodes for the minor Chosen. There’s also a pattern of “exposition, action, repeat” in singular episodes, which can get tiring.
The villains also aren’t that interesting. A problem is there isn’t as much back-and-forth between the Chosen and their foes, most of the latter being mindless beasts, robbing the fights of fun, intrigue and some tension. Most glaring are starter villain Argomon Perfect and Calamaramon. Unlike their older versions, the former’s face has been monsterized and acts as such instead of spouting any philosophy like he used to, whereas the latter never says a word, and her more human half actually gets sidelined in favor of her squid half...really says a lot there. In all honesty, the most interesting villain so far wasn’t Devimon or Dark Knightmon, nor even Millenniummon or that yellow eyeball, but Minotaurumon of all Digimon, and that’s because he actually knows one of the secondary good guys, making that fight more engaging. Sadly, he’s destroyed in his only appearance, so you don’t get to know any more about him. Devimon himself also gets the shaft, feeling like Minotaurumon-lite in knowing one of the Chosen Digimon. He actually loses what little personality he has during the battle with him.
Regarding the pacing, the series appears a little too self-conscious about both the extended 66 episode run, yet also making a good first impression. As a result, it leads to a strange situation where the plot is both going too fast, yet dragging to fill the order. Take Orochimon’s episode, for example- as much as I liked the fight, that episode didn’t really need to be there, and they could have gone from Eyesmon to Nidhoggmon directly. Ditto for quite a few episodes after.
The way things are going, even if there is some epic twist in the endgame with the most incredible writing, the uninteresting cast as they are and uneven pace will not make it feel worth the wait. EDIT: And funny enough, a few hours after this review, episode 34 seems to promise better storytelling practices.
Anime Tokyo Blackout Arc: Disappointing
Just finished watching the last episode of the Tokyo Blackout Arc and so far, this anime has been a mixed bag. It started somewhat decent, then slowly went downhill into meh territory.
After the plot is established in the first four or so episodes, the remaining is composed almost entirely of nothing but Monster of the Week episodes. Not that the original was any better in that aspect, but at least, the plot progressed however little and the character development felt real.
I feel like a lot of the characters in this version have been Flanderized and downgraded. Koushiro is The Smart Guy, Joe is the nerdy freakout kid with a leader complex, Sora is Team Mom, Mimi is The Chick and Taichi is The Hero... that is their entire personality. But the worst of them all has to be Yamato, whose Lone Wolf tendencies have been exaggerated to the point where I wonder if he has any character at all.
What happened to Koushiro suffering from issues out of being adopted? Sora having a distant relationship with her mother? Yamato and Takeru's family issues? Well, none of that exists here, at least not yet. From all the initial 18 episodes, we've learned nothing about these characters or what makes them tick. This also made the Digimon evolutions feel unearned and, quite frankly, they're even more Deus ex Machina than before.
Another big issue here is that Taichi and Yamato's over-protagonism is not subtle. This is yet another thing that was present in the original, but they made it much worse here. No other characters have smooth and detailed evolution sequences, no other characters have any impact or relevancy to the plot (so far), and even in some focus episodes, Taichi and Yamato still feel like the ones who saved the day and took most action in the end. And in the plot-heavy episodes, the other characters stand on the sidelines the entire time.
The show sometimes relies way too much on the original without knowing what made it special to begin with. Just so you know, the plot of Our War Game has been recycled not once, but twice in under 18 episodes. Plot has only barely progressed, characters did not develop and I'm left wondering if this same Monster of the Week formula is going to be repeated the same way it happened on Frontier and Xros Wars.
In either case, it's way too early to make any final judgements. But so far, I've got to say this was a disappointing and unoriginal entry. Hope it gets better, though.
And Leomon better stay alive this time!
Anime Digimon Adventure 2020: Where Filler is Better Than The Actual Show
We're just about to enter Episode 44, two thirds of this series is already over and my opinion about it since I wrote my last review only got worse and worse. Every Saturday, I tune in to watch this thing and I wonder why am I even bothering.
I am completely convinced that this season was supposed to be originally 26 episodes or something, but the executives at Toei decided. "Meh, let's add 40 more, just for good measure." Because holy hell, we had maybe 3 episodes where the only shred of a plot this season has moves and 40 episodes of pure filler.
I mean, that would've been forgivable if this were any other Digimon season. I mean, in other seasons, we have filler episodes that serve no purpose other than for the kids' Digimon to reach their next level, but those episodes often rewarded the viewer with the kids developing as characters, thus justifying their Digimon's evolution.
One of the big problems with Digimon Adventure Colon is that this doesn't happen. These characters are extremely bland and don't develop, ever. Okay, I'll give credit where it's due, Mimi is by far the best character in the entire show and her episodes are always the best out of the whole bunch, Joe is a close second. But everyone else is so devoid of any motivation, personal goals or personality that I find it hard to believe these are the "Chosen Children."
Even when the writers try to justify these kids' development for a new evolution to happen, it usually looks pretty fake and forced. It's telling that when a new evolution is bound to happen, the writers resort to old footage and flashbacks about things that we never heard about these characters before, but are only relevant to that episode and that episode alone.
I lost the count of how many times the characters go, "Oh no, we're about to die. I used to be such a lonely kid. But then, I remembered that one brief conversation we shared about 30 episodes ago! YES, WE ARE BEST FRIENDS AND I WON'T LET YOU DIE!"
Here's another example of the worst types of "character development" I've ever seen in an anime: In one episode, Koushiro's tablet stops functioning. The entire episode is focused on him learning how not to depend so much on his tablet, so he can grow up and make Tentomom evolve to Perfect-level. He does... but then the tablet goes back to normal, and Koushiro goes straight back into using his tablet 24/7 like nothing in that episode even mattered.
Also, for the first 33 episodes, you will notice a pattern justifying the lack of a central plot here: Something will happen in the real world, there will be a countdown and a main monster that needs to be destroyed, the kids will be separated, the other kids will spend literally 7 episodes sitting in just one place doing nothing while Taichi and Yamato get all the focus. As far as I remember, this happened exactly 3 times in a row.
I'm pretty sure the writers are just making stuff up as they go. There used to be an implication that the Digimon were going feral because Devimon was using his Soundbirdmon to brainwash them, and that went completely nowhere until 25 episodes later where it is explained out of nowhere that the Digital World is a place where Digimon hunt each other to evolve.
Speaking of the Digital World, it's pretty unsatisfying on a series called "Digimon Adventure" to see the Digital World being used as nothing more than a scenery for a boring Monster of the Week battle. The world itself barely gets explored or built on outside of a few select filler episodes, and the heroes rarely get to comment on its bizarre aspects. There was this time when the kids suddenly get underwater, but then they realize they don't need to breathe, and this goes completely unnoticed. I guess there's no place for worldbuilding either when Digimon Adventure Colon has soooo many interesting fights that don't matter in the long-run.
And speaking of the fights, they kind of ruined the entire flow of the season when they introduced Perfect-level and even Ultimate-level evolutions early on. For most of the season, you'll notice these kids have Perfect Plus level Digimon, but they are still fighting other Perfect-level Digimon and having a hard time. It gets even worse when Taichi reaches not one, but two Ultimate evolutions, but never uses them. A lot of these stupid Monster of the Week plots could've entirely avoided if Taichi just decided to whip out Wargreymon and kick everybody's asses, but he never does, for... reasons.
Are there good things about this season? Definitely. Although the other kids don't get this privilege, Agumon's and Gabumon's evolution sequences are beautifully animated and are always a bang to watch whenever they show up. The kids are a bit more active in battle. Leomon is a complete badass and has by far the best incarnation of the character as of yet. Mimi is a wonderful character and her episodes are always perfect. I also really like Joe and that episode where he freaks out over potato chips.
But everything else? Not good. Boring, underdeveloped characters. Absurd amounts of Filler. A plot that barely gets explained or ever goes anywhere. A fantasy setting that doesn't get explored. Protagonist Power-Up Privileges that get abused to ludicrous degrees. Villains that have little personality, charisma or even reason to exist. Inconsistent writing that relies too much on Deus ex Machina to work.
In the end, this is one of the worst seasons of Digimon. I dare say it's even worse than Frontier and Zero Two. But on the bright side, it's still not worse than Xros Wars Season 3.