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[otakween]

Digimon Frontier - Episode 16

Meh, this episode kind of just annoyed me. The last episode was funny, but they're dragging out the "ugly woman" gag a little too long. I didn't like how they treated Izumi and I found her new beast spirit evolution kind of underwhelming. I wish they'd focus less on making her sexy and more on making her powerful. It feels like they're trying to recapture the popularity of Angewomon or something.

Notes:

The name "Akiba market" feels kinda lazy for a fantasy world. Then again they've been running into nothing but Japanese restaurants lately so maybe this part of the digital world is like Japan town?

This episode had a pretty shitty message for girls. Junpei was worried that Izumi would "become ugly" like Ranamon and then it was seen as a big triumph when she ended up getting a hot evolution. The whole thing gave me the ick. They would never bug a male character about how pretty/cool looking their digivolution was. It didn't help that Shutumon's digivolution sequence gave such an emphasis on her butt. I guess if I want good female rep I shouldn't be watching a shounen anime lol

So Shutumon's name is based on Sumerian mythology, so I guess that's another culture represented in Digimon. I want to make a chart.

Shutumon's okay I guess. I like her mature looking eyes and head wings but I'm not really into the ninja-esque look (with the face mask). Also, not to be a hypocrite, but why is her butt so flat? Normally I wouldn't care, but as I mentioned previously they emphasized her butt in the digivolution sequence but then she basically has a pancake butt.

Just zero cheeks at all. Looks uncomfortable.

I was excited to see Gomamon, but it was a little weird how they made them end every sentence with "goma." Anything for that cuteness factor I guess.

Everyone blushing when Izumi hugged them at the end was cute but also like, calm down guys. (Maybe hugging is a bigger deal in Japan)

[otakween]

0-Man - Volume 2

These volumes are taking me ages to get through. They're good and fun reads but sooo dense and full of kanji I can't read. Most of the charm comes from the visuals anyway, so I think it's still worthwhile to pick up if you're at the intermediate level like me.

Chapters 14 & 15

Chapter one was really short so I'm combining things. We kick off after the end of volume 1. The gang accidentally set off a chain reaction of volcanoes. The bad guys try to freeze the ensuing eruption, but that just starts a huge blizzard which will lead to the ice age of their freezing machine isn't stopped. Dun dun dunnn.

I was relieved to get a little levity with the Professor acting nice again and everyone sitting down for dinner. The gag of Ricky's mom being bad at human cooking was pretty lame though (I'm sick of the "a woman who can't cook???" joke in anime).

We got another dead parent!? Sheesh so many deaths in this series. At least Pete didn't really like his dad anyways.

Ricky's tail gets all messed up in this chapter after a plank of wood falls on it and he has to yank it out. For a second I thought he ripped part of it off, but I don't think they'd do that. (Edit: they absolutely do do that).

New 0 men lore: they have a very high tolerance for cold and heat. I kinda feel like they threw that in there to excuse the fact that Ricky's always in short shorts lol

Ch. 16

The professor meets with other academics to explain the current situation and to prove the existence of 0 men. He essentially makes Ricky reveal his tail without his consent which was kind of uncomfy. But the world is literally ending, so I'll allow it lol

So they ultimately decide they need to nuke Japan to destroy the ice machine. Seems like it would be pretty hard to evacuate an entire country fast enough to do that, but okay...

I wonder how often nukes are the answer in apocalyptic stories? I read a book awhile back about giant spiders taking over the planet and nukes were the answer in that situation too. That book was wild...

Ch. 17

The Japanese public evacuate but the 0-men stay behind because...??? I don't really know. Maybe they just have a good nuke shelter or something? Or maybe they need to help the professor.

The joke about children being better behaved than adults during the evacuation was great. I feel like that can be true sometimes because kids are used to the structure of school and learning their manners whereas adults are further removed from those lessons. (Also kids tend towards being less mean spirited in general).

Two new human men are introduced purely for slapstick it seems like. Their jokes are very Three Stooges old timey. I was rolling my eyes, but it's wholesome at least. It was cute when they tied scarves to their pants to be polite (when they saw Ricky's mom's tail).

Abruptly, Ricky's mom gets carted away by sketchy men who want to experiment on her. Dun dun dunnnn

Ch. 18

Tezuka sure packed a lot into this chapter. The gang saved Ricky's mom, had a shoot out, escaped to the professor's base and then the villain kinda forgave Ricky because he protected the base from a bomb? Whirlwind.

By the way, I don't know anyone's names because I can't read kanji names lol (katakana names are all good though)

This chapter was pretty violent! I was momentarily traumatized by Ricky's mom's leg and tail snapping off until they revealed it was a mannequin. It was still kind effed up to see! Also Ricky just spears a dude almost to death. Hardcore for a little guy.

On top of the violence, seeing someone being experimented on with dry ice as they yell "please, I'm a living being!!" is pretty distressing as well. I don't even know for sure if everything's gonna be fine because they already killed off a few people...

Ch. 19

Dangit, I wish this was translated by...anybody! There isn't even a fan translation. I'm just barely scraping by with my kanji reading skills but I'm missing out on a lot. For example, Ricky and the other 0 men refuse to evacuate to the underground. Why? IDK...Also, the nuke seemingly does nothing after they launch it. Did they explain why? Maybe, but I missed it if they did. Oh well...I still get the jist.

Seeing everyone prep for the launch of the missile and pre-mourn the loss of their country was really sad. I'm glad such plot points aren't too taboo in Japan. They explore this stuff a lot.

Ch. 20

And this is the chapter where I remember that Tezuka was definitely a furry lol. I don't say that mockingly, I love his animal/anthro illustrations. They just feature so prominently in his work.

Pretty crazy to find out that Ricky's dad is still alive like a zillion chapters after he "died." I mean...saw it coming, but the timing is unusual.

The shenanigans were fun this time because they realize it's "Muu Muu day" in the 0-man kingdom. This is apparently a day where everyone dresses up like animals, including humans, so a human showing up isn't suspicious. Ricky looked really cute in his squirrel costume.

I've gradually started to notice more creative panel arrangements and lettering showing up. It's interesting to see Japanese characters written in wacky ways that I'm not used to. Seems like it would be tricky to write kanji in bubble letters...

Ch. 21

Sheeesh, this manga is wild. It almost feels like every chapter there's some new apocalyptic event. Also, a surprising amount of death.

The cliffhanger ending for this chapter was Ricky and his dad plummeting from space in a spaceship, crash landing and then dad finding Ricky's disembodied tail!?

Okay, there's no way that Ricky really lost his iconic tail. What's the explanation gonna be this time...? (Edit: Nope, he actually lost his tail).

Ch. 22

This chapter had everything: random Popeye cameo, casual racism towards Fiji and Native Americans, and a Titanic parody where the Titanic was called the Tihenic (get it, because taihen? I laughed...)

So instead of global warming we have global freezing. An interesting concept nowadays. I guess the polar bears would flourish? Or would they still suffer because they need some water to hunt...hmmm

This was a Ricky-free chapter. Instead we caught up with Pete in America who is apparently staying with a new professor whose name I forgot immediately. His hair is pretty terrible. Pete and professor bad hair are being forced to build a rocket so that this evil dude can escape Earth. Sounds like something Elon would do lol

Ch. 23

Okay, so Ricky really did lose his tail, that's crazy. He's practically just a normal boy now.

It was really depressing when Ricky's dad thought he was finally experiencing some human kindness only for them to betray him :'(

I feel like we've kinda lost the plot at this point. Or maybe this manga was always intended to be episodic? The apocalyptic ice age stuff still lingers in the background, but the 0-man characters are kind of just ignoring that and trying to survive. (Edit: that plot line does come back as the main focus).

Ch. 24

Damn, someone needs to get Ricky a new pair of pants. Poor kid is just going around with a huge rip on the bottom.

The revelation that Ricky's lost some of his balance due to not having a tail anymore was interesting. I wonder if prosthetic tails exist in this universe?

Not really sure how Ricky ended up finding Pete and Professor Royal (learned his name). Good to see the gang back together even though they weren't apart for very long to begin with lol.

The gag with the driver crying over Ricky and being given wind shield wipers for his eyes was cute

Ch. 25

Lol is it just me or were they all concerned with saving Ricky and then they just immediately gave up and started building rockets instead? I guess they've assumed he's dead by now.

So the bad guy having a rocket built for himself (and maybe his lackeys) and the good guys are trying to build enough rockets to allow all of humanity to escape Earth. It's a little too relatable how they've decided that Earth is beyond saving climate-wise.

[otakween]

Digimon Frontier - Episode 15

Beach episode! Beach episode!! I loved this one lol. It was so fun with so many great visuals. Also, Koji being happy for once!? What's going on here...

Notes:

So I guess the villains aren't friends or anything since they didn't give a crap when Grottomon died lol. Maybe they just team up out of convenience?

Lol at the Toucanmon being simps/idol fans for Ranamon. I guess idol culture was even like that back in the 2000s huh? Feels modern to me.

I really like Toucanmon's design for the most part, but the Mickey Mouse like egg-pants are pretty weird. The colors kind of clash too. Either way, it's just nice to get a new digimon after not seeing one for awhile (aside from the warriors)

The gang being excited for summer fun was really cute. I love it when Digimon kids get this kind of break mid-season. They've earned it :)

Why'd that food look so good tho? 🤤 They pulled out all my fave dishes too. (I guess they're everyone's fave dishes, let's be real)

We get some slightly risque Izumi fanservice. Which is creepy considering she's an elementary schooler. This is one of those cases where the dub was right to cut stuff if you ask me.

Everyone's reaction to how ugly Calmaramon was was pretty hilarious (tho I almost felt kinda bad for her). It took me a second to realize that she's an upside-down squid. Unique...

I was concerned that they would pull another "cat fight" joke with Fairymon fighting Ranamon, but it was mostly okay. Fairymon still didn't really prove herself though since Calmaramon basically defeated herself. I want a legitimate Fairymon battle where she kicks ass gdi!

[otakween]

Digimon Frontier - Episode 14

Visually, this episode was pretty dull, as you may be able to tell from my lack of exciting screenshots. Plot-wise it was decent though. Junpei's time to shine and we finally got rid of that pesky Grottomon!

Notes:

I'm very bored/disappointed by the digimon designs this season. The villains are kind of interesting, but the heroes are pretty...eh. Borgmon doesn't look different enough from Blitzmon and he doesn't even look very "beast" like. They're both just bug-like mechas. Snore. I feel like the designs have way more of a "boy" appeal than a "girl" appeal since Borgmon is basically a tank. I'm sure that's exciting to someone out there lol.

Every time I see Whamon I just think "why'd they have to make him so nasty looking?" I love whales IRL so it's just a shame that they made him look so gross. (Neemon and Bokomon wondering where his tears were coming from was funny).

IDK what they were going for with Arbormon. He make sense in the dub but in the original Japanese he says a bunch of non sequiturs about doing your chores or something? I'll need to hear more dialogue from him before I can figure this out...I like his beast form (Petaldramon)

It was kind of confusing how Takuya and Koji randomly digivolved when they saw Whamon struggling. Like it seemed like they were getting ready for a fight but Whamon wasn't attacking them. Were they doing it just in case?

They clearly showed Grottomon turning into an egg when they defeated him, so maybe that's been happening to villains this whole time and I just didn't notice?

Junpei got the Earth spirit data...I've said this many times now but, does he get to use that in any way? I wonder what they're going to end up doing with all of these spirits when the world is saved.

We got some Izumi x Junpei developments. I don't feel like I buy their chemistry, but it's a cute ship nonetheless. Better than pairing main boy x main girl like every shounen (they're going to do that anyway, aren't they?)

[otakween]

EXECUTE! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!

(I wanted to see all the digivolution sequences together so I made this video. Who did it best? Also, why does Zoe/Izumi say "exeCUTE"?)

[otakween]

Digimon Frontier - Episode 13

Big drama time. The plot was really plotting this episode, which I appreciate. I'm impressed that they're not just lazily following a formula of introducing a new spirit each episode. It's more exciting when things are unpredictable.

Notes:

It's kinda late to be asking this, but why is Rika the narrator for this series in the dub? I like to imagine she's watching the show with us now that her show's ended lol.

I like how Cherubimon's goons all look like they were designed by a different artist. Mercurymon stands out to me. He kind of reminds me of a Salvador Dali painting or something.

It seems like every other food the kids have eaten this season has been gross. Guess they're being realistic lol. At least the soba looked delicious...

Some dub differences I noticed were they cut Deramon being strangled so the bad guys just kinda pointlessly appear at the restaurant and then leave. Also, instead of showing the digivolutions side by side they showed them separately. It must be an interesting job being an editor for a localized program.

Seraphimon's castle was aesthetic af. I was like "yaaaaasss" while taking screenshots lol

I've definitely seen Seraphimon in one of the video games before, can't remember which one though. His design is amazing. I don't think he was mentioned in D-Project, in that it was basically just Ophanimon vs. Cherubimon, so the lore has expanded.

When Sorcerymon was lore dumping the animation was really bad lol. They were basically just moving PNGs around. I liked how Bokomon was like "gee, this story sounds familiar" in the dub. It did feel weird that they felt the need to repeat it verbatim. They could have just told us the new part.

Kind of rolling my eyes at Sorcerymon's sacrifice. Just because Wizardmon sacrificed himself in Adventure its gotta happen again with Sorcerymon? Feels like Leomon's repeat deaths.

Again with the inconsistencies with death in this franchise. I think this is the first time in Frontier we've seen a digimon turn into a digiegg instead of just vanish. Also, Mercurymon took his data but he's still able to turn into an egg which sets this apart from Tamers (I know they're alternative universes, no need to explain that to me). The kids acted like they knew all about digieggs for some reason. I could have sworn we haven't seen one yet...maybe it's just obvious.

Only just realized that Ranamon is called that because rana means "frog." She's cute but why'd they have to make her boobs so pointy at the end? lol

It really bothered me that Takuya (Izumi in the dub) told Tomoki not to cry. Why not? If Izumi was crying would they have told her to stop? Just seems shitty to me. (Also though he was crying over a digimon he met two seconds ago which bothered me for a different reason lol)

Wait, why were they clinging to the sides of Trailmon instead of sitting inside him? I guess they were just in a hurry

[otakween]

Did you have fun at the con? I was working the lighting mostly in Ballroom B but the company I was with also did main auditorium! Hope it was a blast for you

I always have a blast at AB, been going for over a decade! Sounds like it would be cool to be behind the scenes but I think I'm too greedy for that (want my freedom to roam). I have a friend who works security and loves it!

[otakween]

Digimon Frontier - Episode 12

This episode was decent. It was almost all action so my eyes did glaze over at some point, but I liked how intense it was. It got pretty dark when Vritramon was stomping on Blitzmon and then Takuya flipped out after he realized what he was doing. It was a little funny how they were basically like "well, anyway..." after he turned back lol.

Notes:

They're really stretching out this whole Grottomon/Gigasmon thing and I think if I hear "we gotta get to the forest terminal" one more time I'm gonna snap >:/

So the humans have two spirits: one human, one beast, but what about the warriors that are already digimon? Do they also have two? But then what's their "vanilla" form?

I think I like Vritramon more now that I've seen him in action. He's pretty badass. I like the laser guns on his arms (pew pew!)

Tomoki standing up to Vritramon reminded me of Hikari standing up to the villains back in the day. Very nostalgic

Amidakuji! I never really understood how that game worked. (I finally Googled it just now tho). In the dub they were just like "uh...it's a maze!" Close enough lol

Seeing quicksand was kinda funny because that was such a western cartoon cliche in the 90s. I don't think I've ever seen it in an anime before!

Takuya used slide evolution a bunch in this episode. I think I really like this new concept! More variety in the fight scenes. Sometimes it kinda seemed like he switched for no reason tho lol

We meet a bunch of other warrior baddies at the end and they're all...weird looking. At least they're not generic! Looking forward to getting a proper look at them later.

Takuya managed to steal Gigasmon's spirit which...once again...not sure what that means. Can Takuya digivolve into Gigasmon now? (I mean, I know he probably won't, but shouldn't that be how it works?)

Omg the water warrior has a southern accent in the dub! Her design seems fun to, I like that she's slightly chunky.

[otakween]

Renaming Vritramon to BurningGreymon has a really unfortunate side effect because now in the English version of the newest Digimon card game, all cards that have an effect that affects the Greymon family now need to come with a "(except BurningGreymon)" disclaimer. Localization!

Lol the butterfly effect of random localization decisions. I'm trying to just absorb both sides (dub and sub) so that I can follow the conversation if I'm talking to a dub-only person one day. I went to the Anime Boston digimon panel and the host only used the English names (I guess since it's an American con, it makes sense).

The most fascinating thing about Frontier is the names that sound more Japanese in the dub than the sub (Kazemon and Kumamon). That's like reverse localization!

[otakween]

There are a lot of Digimon from the early years like Shamamon who are basically palette-swaps of already-existing designs ^^;; For the early video games in the series like Digimon World and DW2 they wanted to depict the Digital World as having a lot of Digimon types in it, but programming wildly disparate designs into the game was more time-consuming, so they made a lot of Digimon like Shamamon, Alraumon, YukiAgumon, etc. and then gave them unique gimmicks (Shamamon being a more magic-oriented Goburimon, for instance). It was a byproduct of where the franchise was in its early years, it's MUCH rarer nowadays for Digimon to be designed basically as subspecies like this. It works better in the games imo, where you can give the Digimon different elemental attributes or abilities to help make them feel a lot more different from one another

Considering I've played every game released prior to Frontier, believe me I know. But like...it's a new show. They could just introduce a new digimon instead of parading out the palette swaps. They can do whatever they want, especially since it's a separate universe! I guess once you introduce a mon you can't get rid of it from the canon though lol.

[otakween]

Digimon Frontier - Episode 11

Meh, this episode was kinda lame. The writing just felt super random and a lot of scenes went nowhere, especially the whole fortune telling bit. It was a little bit hype when Vritramon showed up because it was so abrupt, but then they just revealed he was possessed by some rando digimon that we just met and that kinda ruined it.

Notes:

So now Tomoki got his spirit stolen? What exactly does Grottomon gain by stealing spirits anyways? Aside from weakening his opponents. We don't see him using Chackmon or Fairymon's powers (maybe because he's not destined to use them).

Taking a Goburimon and being like "oh no, that's a Shamamon, he's different" just feels lazy to me. Why not go with a separate design?

Vritramon's design is another one of those "too much going on" designs that I'm not too fond of. I do like it better than Agnimon's design though, it's a little more cohesive. All of his sharp edges make him look like he could transform into a sports car lol

In the dub they call Vritramon BurningGreymon just like how Garmmon is KendoGarurumon. I do appreciate the symmetry, but it makes thing confusing. Can I evolve my Greymon into a Vritramon or nah? Based on name only you can't really tell if they're related in the sub.

You could do a whole anime con panel on how mythology inspired digimon names. Vritramon is obviously Indian-inspired.

Can Izumi and Tomoki still find and use the beast spirits if they don't have their human spirit forms? I honestly have no clue

Can Grottomon die already? kthanx. I want a better villain!

[otakween]

Digimon Frontier - Episode 10

Woohoo 10th episode 🥳 This one was okay, at least we got some interesting developments. The animation was noticeably limited but they seemed to over-stylize the shots to compensate for it. It felt...off but passable. If I was a kid I probably wouldn't notice.

Notes:

Koji gets a solo episode because he's a ~lone wolf~ I'd probably have a crush on him in elementary school, embarrassed to admit. As a 31 year old viewer he just seems like a lil shit lol

Really enjoying meeting new, friendly digimon each episode (although I guess there wasn't one last time). The digital world feels more fleshed out and lived in than it did in previous seasons and the digimon act more like people.

Bokomon calling Neemon "Bakamon" and snapping his waistband is really old. It was never really funny to begin with.

I realized that, although everyone is meant to have a beast form and a human form...isn't Chakmon already a beast form? Maybe it has to do with being bipedal? (Altough Grottomon's beast form is bipedal so idk)

It was interesting to see a digimon (Gotsumon) striving to become a legendary warrior. I feel like they could have just recruited him to help with the fighting lol

Izumi loses her spirit which apparently is a thing that can happen. It reminded me of when Juri lost Leomon because her digivice had TV static on the screen. Why do I feel like stealing spirits from people is gonna be a video game mechanic in one of the Frontier-based games?

I noticed that in the sub, they just call the beast spirit digivolution "spirit evolution" but they specify the "beast" thing in the dub. I like it when they're specific! It's a lot less confusing.

Weird naming sense for the new beast spirit evolution. In the Japanese he's Garmmon which is a Norse mythology allusion. But in the English he's KendoGarurumon? First off the design doesn't scream "kendo" to me and second, it feels weird to give him the "Garurumon" name. I mean, I knew this design was a rip-off, but it's weird they're making it explicit!

Naming and derivativeness aside, I do prefer Garmmon to Wolfmon. His little heelys cracked me up though. He feels like a redesign of MetalGarurumon, like an iPhone upgrade lol. Pretty much the same but sleeker.

We got a new insert song which was probably Koji's image song. I look forward to giving a proper listen later.

[otakween]

Digimon Frontier - Episode 9

This episode was pretty weak, I could barely get any screenshots out of it. Another Tomoki-centered episode, which we just got, but okay. Someone on MAL pointed out that Takuya has basically gotten no development whatsoever which yeah...can't disagree.

Notes:

Why did it feel like 60% of this episode was just talking about meat apples lol. I mean, they sound delicious, but can we move on?

Bakumon has the same holy ring as Tailmon after he's purified. I guess that's another digimon subset I gotta keep track of now (as if there weren't enough)

Really the only exciting thing that happened this time was the reveal that the gang will all be getting their 2nd evolutions soon. I'm glad that this time it will be a more animal-like form. I don't mind the human-like digimon, I just slightly prefer monsters to look like...monsters (instead of mecha or humans in cosplay lol)

I guess this explains slide evolution too. So they'll be able to "slide" back and forth from the human form to the beast form? Kinda sounds like a hassle for the animators lol. Wonder how often they'll be doing that.

Koji seemed nicer in this episode, guess he's learning!

Tomoki mom reveal! We also learn that Junpei's an only child (he was less emo about than Koji but still defensive). I've always enjoyed the focus on family in these shows. That's what kids would focus on so it makes sense.

They hinted at the end that there's some big mystery about Koji. Is he like the chosen one or something? (I mean they all are, but is he ~special~) Maybe he was secretly raised by digimon and that's why he was weird about being an only child lol

[otakween]

Regarding Ruki's dad, he's not dead and calling him a deadbeat's a bit erroneous. Under Japanese civil law, joint-custody and formal visitation aren't really a thing--children are awarded to one divorcing parent or the other on full-custody, and if there are multiple children they'll usually divide them up between the parents unless one is unfit (this is why Yamato and Takeru in Adventure live apart from one another, each living with one of their parents and almost never seeing the other one). When Ruki's parents divorced, her mom clearly got full custody. Ruki might be able to see her dad if she wants, but she would have to talk to her mom and her mom would then have to contact her ex-husband and arrange it, easy to imagine neither of them is super comfortable with the idea.

Damn, wtf. I had no idea Japan was so different regarding divorce! I had to fact-check, but it's totally true: https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Society/Japan-edges-toward-allowing-joint-custody-for-divorced-parents#:~:text=Japan%20remains%20the%20only%20Group,related%20law%20in%2077%20years

This article explains some of the reasoning for why joint custody could be a bad thing, but to not offer it at all seems crazy to me. There are plenty of amicable divorces out there where both parents still love their kids :(

[otakween]

[otakween]

Digimon Frontier - Episode 8

Omg this episode was sooo cute!! The toddler digis were adorable and so expressive. Since they were the main focus for once I think they animated them with a little more detail than usual, especially Tsunomon.

Notes:

I loved the focus on Izumi and Junpei's relationship in this! I feel like episodes with a smaller cast are always stronger writing-wise. Their (platonic) chemistry was great as they saw new sides of each other.

Neemon and Bokomon are kind of starting to annoy me, they just don't really add anything to the story. Neemon especially is just silent most of the time? Like...why are they even there? Maybe if they contributed to fighting or something it would be more justified.

Loved teacher Tokomon and her little rural elementary school. It was like Non Non Biyori Digimon style haha

If I was put on the spot to tell tales of the human world to lil digimon I probably wouldn't know wtf to say either. Maybe I'd talk about human food?

Why'd Nyaromon beat up Junpei so hard lol. They censored it to a single hit in the dub but in the original it was a big smackdown.

Probably the most intriguing part of the episode to me was Izumi's backstory. She was ostracized at her school for being too western? Like she has the individualist instead of collectivist mindset. They demonstrated this will really subtle things like not wanting to go to the bathroom with a classmate and not wanting to buy the same trinket as everyone on an outing. Japanese people might see that as being cold. Prioritizing logic/individual feelings over the feelings of the group. I really liked that Izumi refuses to change due to peer pressure. I think some of the fakey "always get along with everyone" thing Japan has going on is BS too.

Apparently neither Junpei nor Izumi can swim? They acted so helpless when Tsunomon was in trouble. Also, it kinda seemed like you could just stand up in that water. IDK how common it is for Tokyo residents to not learn to swim but I always see water parks and beach trips in anime so I would think swim lessons are common? (I know anime isn't real life but it's based on something lol)

Getting bullied for digivolving early is kinda like getting bullied for hitting puberty first haha (like that one girl in Are You There God, It's Me Margaret)

Kinda strange that Izumi and Junpei's instinct would be to tell Gabumon to save the day, that's a lot of pressure to put on a kid! Also, a Gabumon seems like a weird choice for the situation (pulling someone out of a rushing river). Shoulda made it a Gomamon honestly.

We're just gonna ignore the fact that they're somehow sailing on grass as if it was water? They didn't even mention it!

[otakween]

Digimon Frontier - Episode 7

This episode was just okay, felt kind of like padding, but we did get some character moments I suppose. We're back to Toy Land and that means it's time to focus on the youngest team member: Tomoki. Although really it was Koji and Takuya's relationship that got all the development. They acted like divorced parents in this lol

Notes:

Maybe it's because of Japanese politeness, but the bickering between Koji and Takuya seemed a lot more intense in the dub. Takuya actually says "no wonder no one likes you" to Koji and I was like oooooh dramaaaa

WaruMonzaemon's depression attack cracked me up lol. I like how his attack is the reverse of Monzaemon's with a black heart.

Why was Koji so emo about being an only child? It's probably something deeper because not having a sibling is not a big deal (I mean you might be jealous, but he overreacted for sure).

Pandamon was very random. Not only is that the laziest digimon design I've ever seen, but he wasn't very toy-like for Toy Land.

A lot of unnamed robots in this one? There was the flying red robot and then the ToyAgumon merged into a big mecha. Were those digimon or...?

The ToyAgumon wanted "revenge on the kids that didn't play with them"...what kids? How are kids supposed to play with you? Do they mean like...through a computer or something?

Loved Tomoki's retort to Koji in the OG version. Koji says "what a child" and Tomoki says "well yeah, I am a child." In the dub they changed it to "You're such a baby!" "No I'm not!" which isn't as impactful imo

Even MORE "fear of heights" moments with the Viking ship scene. Can we get some other kinda peril?

So defeating the ToyAgumon purified them and they changed from their black form to their default rainbow. I feel like the results of winning a battle keep changing because it's not like they've purified a digimon every time right? Sometimes it fixes part of the environment and sometimes nothing really happens at all. Mysterious.