#repeat andromon

[koushirouizumi]

{from Official Twitter here!}

[nikkisticki]

I gain a sick thrill watching Spotify desperately attempt to fight off Ublock, attempting to display the "playback is not supported" on two refreshes only for it to work fine on the third.

This is the closest I'll get IRL to a Digimon battle

[firstagent]

Review! Adventure: (2020) Episode 67: The End of the Adventure

In this episode, among all of Negamon’s terrifying forms, it decides a shadow rivaling Omegamon is the scariest.

The common template for Digimon finales of half climactic action and half emotional epilogue offers some intriguing possibilities for this series. The climactic action part goes without saying: whatever stops are left will be pulled out and it’s going to be the kind of wild action sequence the show’s excelled at. But it’s hard to go without some sort of resolution as the kids say farewell to the Digital World. How do you say goodbye to a cast we never really met in the first place? It could be the same hollow statements we’re used to, or they could cram a bunch of real world details we should have discovered ages ago. Instead it’s split halfway, with sights a little more telling than we’re used to, but without pretending this show was anything different than what it was.

After tussling with multiple forms of Negamon, all abominations of tentacles and eyes, Omegamon dives into its main core for the final showdown. And Negamon, master of horrors… solidifies into a form the same size as Omegamon, only shadowy. It’s possibly the least intimidating thing it could muster. It’s also a weird show of deference, like Negamon would rather fight as equals rather than as something larger and awe-inspiring. It makes for a hell of a final one-on-one clash that delivers the kind of fight we hoped for, but the psychology is poorly considered and the form in many ways betrays Negamon’s concept.

Once Omegamon and Negamon run through the string of “evenly matched overpowered robot duel” tropes, eventually ending up in space because why not, the usual spur of energy from the angels and the usual refusal to quit from Taichi and Yamato leads to Omegamon Alter-S… the usual mode change everybody expected. It makes quick work of Negamon, but makes an observation that other Digimon seasons have only danced around: in worlds where Digimon are reborn: doesn’t that apply to the villains?

It varies by world, but you probably should wonder about the fate of the Dark Masters, Lucemon, Bagramon, and the like. This time it’s attacked head on. Omegamon recognizes that the power of rebirth Negamon grew such a disdain for allows it another chance to recreate itself, perhaps this time without the corruption that led it down this path. If there has been a recurring theme this series, it could be the exploration of renewal and history repeating itself.

The falling action starts out on an auspicious note, with the kids left in a weird binary space where everyone can chill with their partners for a second. They’re sweet, quiet moments, but nothing remarkable. And suddenly it’s over, leaving you wondering if that was it for the kids in the Digital World, perhaps even with their Digimon. Meanwhile, the following scene of Wisemon passing on the story to the baby Digimon is a wonderful additional to the formula. Like the holy war before it, it shows how this adventure is destined to become part of the world’s lore, to inform and guide the heroes of the next crisis that will inevitably come along.

As for the heroes of this one… they just go back to their lives. Not knowing much about them lives hampers a few of the shots, particularly Sora and Joe’s. But for everyone else they take what little we were given and roll with it. Takeru and Yamato get a rare real world visit. Mimi puts her entrepreneurial spirit into action. Koshiro’s on her payroll, devising a way to open his own gate to the Digital World. And Taichi gets a moment in the shade, a chance to enjoy some peace and quiet, maybe even out of the limelight for a change. That he’s still in the Digital World is only brushed on, appropriate as he’s not the first Digimon protagonist to make that call, that he didn’t have any specific grievance that made him want to avoid the real world (at least that we knew of), and he wasn’t that convincing as a human child anyway. It’s a good spot for him.

It’s almost a footnote that the Digimon stayed with them, remarkable since that only happened once in the first six seasons. But instead of wondering about the implications of Digimon in the real world, they leave the kids alone with their sassy pets. Other kids saw it all; they’re fine with it. They keep it simple, while still offering up a clean resolution to everything, combined with a final battle that lives up to the hype. With all the disappointments of the series baked in, the least it could do was manage an ending within its means. To that, at least, we can be happy it was successful.

My Grade: A-

Loose Data:

Hope you weren’t playing a drinking game taking a shot for every Our War Game homage. The episode leads off with Omegamon flying through a network-like tunnel and it never really lets up at any point in the battle.

They make a big show of the other six occupying Negamon’s outer body to weaken the core, but there isn’t much correlation shown to suggest that affecting much. But it’s nice that the other six got to feel useful in the final battle. And while it’s certainly appropriate that Seraphimon and Ophanimon are leading the way, it is unusual to think about Takeru and Hikari heading up the troops.

Considering it’s the first time we’ve had a good Digimon introduced stronger than the one that showed up in episode two, Alter-S didn’t get a whole ton of screentime. He showed up, more or less one-shotted Negamon, then was back to regular Omegamon before the end of his monologue. As far as midnight hour emergency power-ups (Crimson Mode, X7 Superior, that sort of thing), this is one of the weakest.

Omegamon talking about “endless potential” sure hits differently after Kizuna, doesn’t it? He’s talking more about Digimon in general while Kizuna was about the limitations of the Chosen-Digimon partnership, but still…

Given the season’s dedication to showing the Digital World outside of battle, the montage of locations carrying on with life is great, and lined with little sights like BanchoMamemon graduating finishing school, the Mimi statue at the gem mine, and Petaldramon, Andromon, and Guardromon all still petrified under flowers.

One cute little touch/nod to the original series… Yamato and Takeru are meeting in Shibuya.

The digital gate Koshiro is trying to create resembles the weird pop-up he received in episode one that we all thought was going to be interesting and relevant and we never saw again.

And finally, congrats to Leomon for surviving a series! His reward is spending the rest of eternity helping Wisemon babysit.

See reviews of every Digimon episode at Digimon: System Restore! Support the site by joining our Patreon!

[o-w-quinlan]

Digimon Adventure 2020, episode 12 reaction (and over-analysis)

This week, the Digimon remake of “Laputa, Castle in the Sky”, except with a more focused narrative. And somehow something so antithetical to what the show has been thus far ends up being one of its best episodes.

An interesting thing in this episode: twice, we saw Guardromon compare the Mimi he was watching with a picture of her in his archive. Both times, the picture is of her sweetly smiling, completely relaxed, and the reality is of her terrified and confused by the violence around her.

It’s been something that’s building up in the background, I guess. It’s not that Mimi is completely against fighting, but the current situation where they have to fight or otherwise they’ll die (as opposed to the Tuskmon or the Gesomon situations, where it was her choice to get involved) is overwhelming to her. The episode stresses a lot of things about Mimi. She takes charge when Palmon is confused about what to do, she’s quick to assume the best out of whoever she meets, refuses to leave Palmon and run when Andromon is about to attack her (in fact, by how her body is positioned, she’s shielding Palmon from the attack), doesn’t ask for help unless she knows the person she’s with doesn’t mind helping her. All in all, the episode emphasizes all of Mimi’s good traits, and then contrasts her with all the violence Soundbirdmon and Andromon bring, a violence both Togemon and Guardromon claim they will protect her from but fail. And it hurts, and it should hurt.

While this episode borrowed a lot from Studio Ghibli films, it aimed to make them more than just reference and actually use them for their narrative. The ancient technological marvel, starting to decay, buried underneath ancient ruins, is obviously a direct lift, but one that works very well in the context of the Ancient War that looms in the background of the story. It’s implied several times that Andromon, Guardromon and the entire factory have far more history to it than the children and the audience can ever know. Soundbirdmon doesn’t come from outside, it was already in the factory to begin with. The episode identifies all the metal of the factory with death, decay and violence, contrasting it with the healing and peace of nature, yet also makes clear that it doesn’t need to be that way. This is the most alive the world has felt so far, the most filled with history. In short, aesthetically it’s the best episode of the series thus far, with only episode 9 and it’s high-octane atmosphere competing.

When the insert song started playing during MetalGreymon’s evolution, I was worried Lilimon would be once again overshadowed in her debut, much like in the original Adventure. What happened instead was the complete opposite. The same contemplative OST from the episode recaps was played instead throughout her evolution and fight with Andromon, and it fits perfectly, additionally making her stand out even more than if it were just the same song that will play in every episode. It makes perfect sense that a normal action scene won’t be a fulfilling end to the story of violence breaking into Mimi’s life (which is why MetalGreymon can’t win), so of course Lilimon will mostly dodge, Andromon’s weapons completely useless in the face of her. Of course her final attacks won’t physically destroy Andromon, but subdue him, pacifying him for a last moment (enough to restore him to normal, enough for us to see that there was more to him than we thought) before burying him in a coat of nature, temporarily becoming the same death and decay that Andromon symbolized. Lilimon says that it was not just Mimi’s sorrow but her anger that brought her forth, and it feels as if something has been lost. That she does not turn to look at Palmon when she asks if she’s okay is intentional.

Additional thoughts on the episode:

The scene with the Birdramon group was great. We see Sora worried about Neamon’s group, and how everyone else reacts to that. Gomamon is the first to ask (because he’s paying attention to the group), Birdramon already knows what’s on her mind without needing to hear it, Gabumon gives practical advice that doesn’t really address what she’s feeling, but Yamato does address it, showing himself far more empathetic and likeable than in the entirety of last episode. Jou’s sadly just comic relief.

Taichi and Agumon climb down the shaft by holding onto random ledges and hoping they don’t fall. Tentomon just grabs Koushiro and flies down. Tells you everything you need to know.

Koushiro’s computer is starting to malfunction. Wonder what that’s building up to.

MetalGreymon’s evolution sequence was great, and the most interesting thing about it is the Mugendramon shape that surrounds him. Is this foreshadowing something?

Koushiro went weird in the Digimon Enciclopedia section. He wants to smell Palmon when she’s angry or happy? That... okay... okay...

I get why Andromon repeated the “Eliminate” line constantly and agree with the reasoning, but they overdid it.

I don’t know if this is my favorite episode so far, but it’s definitely in the running, along with 1, 6 (Mimi’s introduction), 7 (Jou’s introduction) and 9 (Ogremon’s fight). It’s definitely my favorite of the Perfect-level evolution episodes so far. I probably liked Taichi’s and Agumon’s arc in episode 10 better (if only because bond-based evolutions are so rare in the franchise), but when taken as a whole I far prefer this episode.

Next week, Sora gets involved with the Royal Base of the Beemon line. Hopefully it’ll make up for the mess that was her previous episode.

[autoplaysdigimon]

OH FUCK YEAH ANDROMON GOT A NEW ANIMATION

If you’ll recall the original, it was so terrible and stiff and they repeated it like six times in the episode

This except it’s trying to be a fast-paced battle sequence where the protagonists are outgunned by the first Ultimate Digimon in the series.

NOW HE’S COOL AGAIN SWEET

[koushirouizumi]

{DigiAdvs} x Earth: Revival {Collaboration Art}

{oK BUT CAN WE TALK ABOUT THIS MIMI H E L L O?????}

EDIT:

{oK THIS IS WAY BETTER TAICHI ART}