It's been a long time coming but for I (PrestonStarry) am back on Board 8 momentarily for the time being for the summer to kick back and relax here to chat with anybody here for fun as I do one of those so called projects here again. High School is officially over for me so now I can have some time on my own to do something fun and thrilling that may or may not catch your attention here but I shall do it.
And that involves the very first season of Digimon: Digital Monsters. Or Digimon Adventure if you want to call it by that by it's Japanese name. I will be reviewing all 54 episodes of the first season at some point or another during the whole summer in order. I'll be reviewing all the episodes by a scoring system like so.
Digimon was one of "those" animes that I remember first watching and waking up to in the mornings to watch as a youngster and I didn't want to miss a single minute of it. Before anyone can say anything else about it. Yes I do believe that Pokemon is a better anime series then Digimon in my opinion but I won't like that de dock some entertainment and value I think Digimon had going for it. It certainly had some charming moments to it. Everything that is after Tamers. Bleh.
I will comically review over all these episodes and sometimes mock over these episodes in my reviews of this series as it goes on. (It will different then my Pokemon Season 1 episode rankings I made back on this site about three years ago. Oh where does the time go?)
This anime now that I am watching it at eighteen years old where I remember first watching it when I was like six definitely feels awkward to sometimes watch now. SO CHEESY. No wonder that food is so high on the food pyramid. And yes it will be the dubbed version here of the season I will be grading. Deal with it.
I'll more then likely have the first episode "And So It Begins..." up sometime later on in the afternoon. It's up to anybody else to see if their interested.
And here I go. The rebellious angel has struck me with one of his arrows and I'm going to go ahead and review over the very first episode right now.
Episode 1: And So It Begins...
DIGIMON DIGITAL MONSTERS. DIGIMON ARE THE CHAMPIONS. DIGIMON DIGITAL MONSTERS. DIGIMON ARE THE CHAMPIONS. Just like Pokemon we have our cheesy opening at the start of each episode in the show. Get used to it as it becomes more apparent as the series progresses. I wonder how weird it would be to hear this song on a greeting card. Oh great now Grandma's going to ruin Billy's birthday party.
Here we have our cast of characters. Tai, Sora, Joe, Matt, Mimi, T.K. and Izzy. Gotta say some of these dubbed voice actors are pretty good. Colleen O' Shaughnessey and Mona Marshall being the stand outs. Each character shows off personality with some being more grating then others.
Joe: I think we should all head inside before we catch pneumonia.
THAT IS ONE BIG TIDAL WAVE. Now everyone is in the Digital World. Here we get our first glimpse at the Digimon. More on them later. Odd to see that Kuwagamon is like the only Digimon in this whole dub that doesn't have a voice actor. I like how the children mock themselves constantly. Just like how children should be acting yet at the same time being serious around the world there in.
Sora: Hey what happened to that girl in the funny pink hat? (Talking about Mimi) Tai: Now Now, her name is Mimi. Izzy: Maybe she's off picking flowers. Or going off on a nature hike. Or- *Mimi Screams* Izzy: Okay. So she's not picking flowers.
Poor In-Training Digimon. It looks like it's all ov-Oh wait. Their digivolving. The rookie Digimon are definitely alot more likeable then their previous forms. Patamon, Tentomon, Agumon and Gabumon are my favorites. The fight continues with Kuwagamon and GOMAMON DOESN'T DO ANYTHING. Just like Joe. *sigh*
As the children celebrate thinking they have defeated Kuwagamon he comes back, attacks them and then knocks them off the cliff. Literally leaving the episode in a "cliffhanger" Okay I know. That was bad.
Verdict: 9.5/10 I may be generous here with the score but I thought this was an excellent introductory episode. There are many other episodes out there in this season that get annoyingly cheesier then this. We knew some small, but nice personality details about what the kids are like and what the Digimon are like. I feel sad for the Digimon on how they have like one attack in the Rookie/Champion stage yet in their Ultimate/Mega forms their beast. The episode didn't dig much into the story but then again it didn't to be. Short but a sweet ride of twenty minutes I didn't mind wasting here. Don't expect the verdict grade here to be as high as this one was as I review the rest of the season.
Character Rankings: Izzy > Sora > Matt > Tai > T.K. > Mimi > Joe
To make this seem not like a rushed project I'm just going to chill watching over this and probably only do one episode a day. Can't spend my whole life and summer here. Probably gives you time to over the episode then if you care. :P
I'll have "The Birth of Greymon" up tomorrow morning.
Taggin' dis. Watched the first couple minutes, got huge wave o' nostalgia. I was kinda hoping you were gonna watch it subbed because I have heard it is VASTLY SUPERIOR GLORIOUS NIPPON and wanted a second opinion.
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~Tommeri Uranius Bombaldi the Fourth, esq. If you can read this, I'm probably posting from my phone or something!
Anyone remember those old Digimon toys that came in Dairy Queen Kid's Meals? I don't know but I just thought about them again.
Episode 2: The Birth Of Greymon
Don't worry this is only rated TV-Y7 so don't expect anything disastrous to happen here to these kids. Our heroes are plunged into the river and Gomamon is doing something! YES! YES! YES! That looked like a fun little ride to take down the river.
As the group recuperates they learn (and we learn) vaguely more about the world it is their in called "The Digi-World" and the process of "Digivolving" They get bigger and stronger just like humans could except we have to pay the "price" for it if you know what I mean.
Our heroes explore down the beach hoping to figure out a way to get back home and...they come across payphones in the middle of the beach that were put there for no rhyme or reason. Yes you heard me right. PAYPHONES. The kids nearly hyperventilate over this discovery (in particular Joe trying all the phones out) with all these kids asking themselves too many questions and not giving themselves an answer to solve one.
*The Group Talking About The Phone Booths* Matt: If we can find a place that delivers let's order pizza. Mimi: Whatever you get no anchovies for me. Sora: The question is what are these phones doing here? Joe: So people can call their parents and take a ride home! Gomamon: Parents....what exactly is a "parents"? *Joe awkwardly stares at him* Joe: .....That's it. I'm out of here. *Heads to another Phone Booth*
The kids try all of the phones out with dubbing over this situation NOT MAKING ANY SENSE at all.
Phone Booth Operator: Tomorrow's forecast calls for clear skies with occasional ice cream. Mimi: What do you wear for that?
Moving on. The gang stops for a quick lunch break until out of nowhere Shellmon attacks and ruins the party. He easily hoses everyone down with Tai stepping in thinking he's James Sunderland and attacking the monster by himself to no avail.
Agumon: Digivolve!
Agumon then digivolves (for the first time being a Champion) to Greymon. A fight between Shellmon and Greymon is set with Greymon setting Tai free from Shellmon's clutches and then...rather then seeing the fight of the century they have more of a test of strength battle with Greymon knocking Shellmon out of his way, knocking him into the ocean with one hit of his Nova Blast attack and we never hear from him again.
The group decides to leave the beach as quickly as they can and march onwards as to hopefully finding a way to get back home or meet other people like them in this world their in sooner then later.
Verdict: 9.0/10 Aside from the disappointing showdown Greymon and Shelldown had in this episode I really liked what happened here. The phone booth scene was a real treat and good for a laugh despite how corny it was all dubbed. The storyline was branching out more then making us fill in the blanks and we saw the first time a Digimon digivolving into the Champion stage with Greymon. It was prodigious. Wait what did I just say? Don't expect every episode to be as good as this one though. Especially after Episode 7 where we fall into the filler territory. Ugh.
I never watched Data Squad or gave it much thought to consider watching it. I watched everything from Adventure to Frontier though and my rankings are as follows.
From: PrestonStarry | #009 I never watched Data Squad or gave it much thought to consider watching it. I watched everything from Adventure to Frontier though and my rankings are as follows.
Adventure > Tamers > Adventure 02 > Frontier
How good could Data Squad be? It's the best. Really, it's absolutely nothing like Frontier. They seriously found a stride again out of nowhere. I think it had a separate director, like Tamers, so I'm sure that factored in.
Around here you'll find a lot of folks who rank the three good seasons Tamers > Savers (Data Squad) > Adventure, but I'd flip the first two around.
I've never met anyone who has even entertained the thought of putting Savers beneath the obvious bottom two, at least.
From: Naye745 | #012 digimon is super cheesy but also really endearing and fairly well written (for an american-localized children's show)
i definitely think (season 1 at least) it's miles ahead of pokemon Quite easily so.
The third and fifth seasons are slightly less cheesy, too. And 1, 3 and 5 actually tell kinda-sorta-maybe decent stories, especially the fifth.
It's funny, I didn't grew up on cartoons pretty much at all, but I did watch some anime here and there. This is probably the closest I came to watching an American cartoon show, ever.
season 1 is the only one i watched and liked as a kid (like age 12) and as an adult (like 5 years ago) so it's the only one i feel particularly "qualified" to comment on its merits
Only real complaint I had with Adventure 02 was that T.K. and Kari were treated like pawns. Kari became nothing more then a "damsel in distress" with her only lime in the light being over bickering Davis and T.K. had over her and arguing over her purpose she had as part of the Digi-Destined. Davis wanted her affection and T.K. knew there was more to it then that and it's not exactly pleasing when the love triangle branches over dialogue in the season that drags on forever.
Only real complaint I had with Adventure 02 was that T.K. and Kari were treated like pawns.
season 2 tk is an awful, awful character. when i was rewatching this season 4 years ago or so (i got about 30 episodes in) i realized how terrible he was written. kari isn't really much better, either - it seems to me that the biggest problem was that they bothered to include those two characters again for no real reason in another season.
Our episode begins with Tai and the other satyrs exploring more of the island around them figuring out what way they should be heading to next with them planning all of this out on ANOTHER CLIFF SLIDE RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM WITH NO CARE FOR DANGER IN THE WORLD. These kids are definitely daring.
The group is then later interrupted by Monochromon. The kids are forced into claustrophobic hiding with Mimi and Palmon suggesting the others to break free and escape into the forest. We see the group adventuring through the forest filled with random ineligibly read street signs. There's something more random (then this) that happens here in this episode. I'll get to that in a minute.
Wait for it. A trolley car in the middle of the forest their marching through also appearing out of nowhere catches our heroes eyes. Is it also alright to mention that beautiful pink sunset we see here in this episode? It's getting late and The Digi-Destined agrees to stop and sleep inside the trolley car for some shut eye. Not everyone is pleased to be sleeping inside the trolley car but you can't blame them for their age right?
As the group falls asleep we see everyone has hit the hay expect for Tai and Matt. Tai and Matt show mild conflict here in this episode and it's get even better then what was seen here as the season goes on. They show some great chemistry with each other. We later find out that Matt and T.K. (despite being dubbed incorrectly) are only "half-brothers" and their parents are divorced. Matt struggles with living up to this where since he doesn't see much of T.K. in his life he wants to be a big brother to him.
Matt walks away by himself underneath the starry sky after talking to Tai and does the unthinkable. He starts playing a harmonica. A FREAKIN HARMONICA.
Tai while being on guard, struggles to stay awake and lights a fire on top of (what apparently our heroes were on top of while sleeping) a Seadramon.
*The Kids Looking Over In Fear In Front of Seadramon* Mimi: Were going to get eaten for sure!
Such positivity from Mimi. As Seadramon unleashes Hulkamania and go wild our heroes try thinking of a plan to defeat the monster. Matt steps in trying to be the hero of the episode distracting the beast from everyone else with Gabumon attacking him by his side. Seadramon drags Matt underwater and tries to plan and foil the unthinkable to him until Gabumon steps in.
Gabumon: Matt!
Gabumon digivolves to Garurumon and our fight of the episode is commencing. It's a back and forth battle with Garurumon biting Seadramon until he whacks his tail at Garurumon shoving him into the water. Seadramon slows his opponent down with his own ice breath until Garurumon gives him a piece of his own medicine with one blast of his Howling Blaster attack sending him to hit the showers never messing with anyone again.
It's morning now. Our heroes now ponder out a thought on how why Gabumon was the only one that could digivolve during the fight and Agumon couldn't and before anyone could give out much thought for it, the group falls into a power-nap except for Tai and Matt. With Matt ending the episode playing more of that HOLY HARMONICA again with soothing sound that plays music to my ears.
Verdict: 8.0/10 Pretty solid all around. Somewhat predictable and the episode definitely had it's flat points. (The Monochromon were completely uncharismatic) it was charming to watch at times. The Garurumon/Seadramon duel was the most entertaining fight we have seen in the series so far and the writers pulling random nonsense out of their hats in the writing of this episode, helped created some laughs for me that left me wanting to watch more we haven't seen yet that leaves a viewer like me left in mystery about what could happen next.
BUTTERFLY IN THE SKY. I CAN GO TWICE AS HIGH. Take a look up there in the sky it's a flying black gear. Don't worry. It's not the only one you'll see.
Our gang is traveling through the forest some more with begs of mercy being cried but with the tears not dropping in hopes of finding other human life in the Digi-World.
*While The Group Is Moving Through The Forest* Sora: Let's remember were in this together. Biyomon: Together sounds good!
Biyomon is getting on my nerves. The road seems to be getting worse for everyone as Tai and the others venture through a desert, burning up, dehydrated and surrounded by TELEPHONE LINES WITH NO CONNECTING WIRING. The kids are losing their sanity here as the whole scene gets repetitious with them mindlessly talking over one another. Boring.
The kids stop for quick comfort after their tour in the desert in Yokomon Village. Who I can't deal with thanks to their annoying squeaky voices. We find the same black gear can infect into other Digimon and make them turn evil and in this case, it controls the ruler of Mihirashi Mountain, Meromon.
Meromon heads for full force in Yokomon Village as Biyomon's bravery leads all of the inhabitants of Yokomon Village to safety along with the help of the rest of the Digi-Destined. Like Kelly Clarkson is Miss Independent, Sora counts on the love of all of her friends inside her to depend on including Biyomon. Meromon shoves Biyomon down the cliff slide like a rag doll and after recovering from the fall Biyomon counts on herself to never give up.
Biyomon: My friends need my help now!
Biyomon digivolves to Birdramon. Birdra and Mero square off with each other with the action going back and forth with Meromon clipping a direct hit on one of Birdramon's wings. Birdramon responses to this by launching her own attack Meteor Wing at Meromon and releasing the black gear free from inside him.
Meromon apologizes for acting bad, the Yokomon trying to greet everyone with dinner which not everyone seems impressed with and we see Sora explaining the bond between her and Biyomon is growing and it only can get stronger.
Verdict: 6.5/10 This was disappointing. Compared to the other three episodes I reviewed, there wasn't anything here that caught my attention I was watching that I liked. The Yokomon were incredibly annoying and most of the screen time was given to the Yokomon/Biyomon speaking goody goody gibberish. Sora didn't really show any development in her character other then being a sweetheart, which was a let down compared to what Matt and Tai have done (so far) but it does get better for her though in the show as it goes on. (In particular in Episode 26 where she's a total EMPRESS.) This episode wasn't the best of what it could of been and it left me wanting more.
Female Character Rankings From Adventure To Frontier: Rika > Sora > Zoe > Yolei > Kari (S1) > Kari (S2) > Mimi
*The Digi-Destined Walking Through A Barren Area* Sora: We passed this place before. Joe: You mean we've walked around the whole planet? Mimi: That just can't be. I can't walk that far right? I'm so tired!
Over exaggeration at it's finest. The group settles for a pit stop to relax for a little bit with Izzy handling out a plan to do something of sort on his computer until Tai snatches it out of his hands. Tai needs a kick in the noggin for doing that. Computers are not just "dumb things."
Tai's pride and perfect 20/20 vision gets the best of him as he catches a glimpse of an abandoned factory in the distance. He leads the group in finding their way and going the distance. The whole factory looks deserted with equipment here as they are (working?) being pulled apart and randomly put back together.
Our heroes separate with each other into two different groups with Izzy, Mimi, T.K. and Matt discovering the power supply room and Tai, Sora and Joe discovering a wounded Digimon named Andromon stuck like glue in moving equipment. Joe retaliates by not wanting to help move Andromon but Sora puts him in his place for mocking his weak demeanor.
Joe: My mom doesn't want me to move heavy objects. I have bad knees. Sora: Relax. We'll do it.
Agumon accidentally wakes Andromon up as he becomes evil thanks to the black gear getting stuck inside of him. Andromon goes on the hunt chasing down Tai, Sora and Joe down the whole factory.
Matt, T.K. and Mimi leave Izzy by himself in the power outlet room as he tries to make a headway discovery about the Digital World. Izzy becomes a very likeable character here in this case as while he's serious about his studies he pokes out a joke to tell every now and then.
Izzy: Give me a nano here. *Telling Tentomon To Wait A Second* Tentomon: I'll even give you three.
We also later find out Izzy has a dark secret he keeps to himself. I'll get to that some other time.
Everyone eventually reunites with each other somewhere in the factory as Andromon attacks taking aim at T.K. and tries to attack him with his own missile attack but Gabumon digivolves to Garurumon blocking the move. Greymon and Garurumon attack with all their might to take down Andromon to no avail with Tai invisioning failure in his eyes.
Tai: Is it possible we could lose?
Izzy acts like Eddie Guerrero for the day (cheating but not lying or stealing. Okay so maybe he's not acting like Eddie Guerrero but still) hacking into his computer making Tentomon digivolve to Kabuterimon. Kabuterimon and Andromon go to war with each other slamming each others faces down on the metal pathway several times until Izzy reveals that Andromon has a weak point on him and it's in his leg. Kabuterimon fires an Electro Shocker attack releasing the black gear from Andromon who then turns himself back to good again.
Andromon apologizes for the harm he may have caused. The group accepts it as he leads the heroes down the path with what may be the best place for them to explore next. The sewer.
Verdict: 7.5/10 Pretty good episode from beginning to end. I may be underscoring this episode here a little as Izzy was a shining star here but I felt like it was missing something. I think it may be due to the fact that I didn't like the whole factory setting this was all unraveling in I don't know. But I was delighted by everything going on here that I can't really fault the episode here but just nitpick.
From: ctesjbuvf | #025 Adventure 02's my favorite. Davis and Veemon all the way. Davis and Veemon effectively save the season from being a complete trainwreck otherwise. They carry it as best they can.
Could you please explain this? I don't understand why someone would think that, of two similar animes, the one without a plot is better.
This could go into full debate and all just a matter of opinion but what Pokemon did right better then Digimon in my opinion was that it just a great show to watch when you were down and easier to get into compared to Digimon. Every episode of Pokemon had it's own story. There was a plot to follow but you could sometimes treat it like it was an illusion. You never had to worry about missing an episode and getting lost in the story line.
Digimon's story while better, while growing up it never really threw me into an emotional state at times that Pokemon did for me. I could never erase a moment like Pikachu almost leaving Ash, Ash releasing Butterfree, That episode where the Pokemon were given hilarious subtitles to read, etc. out of my heart and sure it may have been to the fact that Pokemon came out a little over a year or so earlier then Digimon did but I can't take away anything like that from Pokemon since that WAS considered amazing for any six year old growing up like me and apart from my generation.
Digimon's story arguably became nothing (by the time I was old enough to understand what was truly going on in it) particularly in Season 2 when everything because nonsensical like how there were DigiDestined located all around the world yet they couldn't do anything about the fight with Apocalymon back in Season 1. Why?
I don't want to turn this into a debate here but I can't give Pokemon all the credit here with it's story. Pokemon became extremely repetitious and boring to watch even getting mildly interested into the story that was going after Master Quest because Team Rocket developed into a joke and filler episodes were sprouted out of the ground following each other like a mosquito infestation.
If you want to go into more detail about it you can if you like but I prefer it if everything here and everyone is to just relax and watch the whole program playthrough I'm giving to Season 1 of Digimon. Any type of discussion is allowed and I'll politely go through it with anybody for anyone that has problems of opinion and questions I'm giving here to Digimon.
COMPLETELY IGNORING THE FRUITY SINGING THE KIDS ARE PLAYING HERE AT THE BEGINNING.
While exploring the sewer some more our heroes are ambushed by a group of Digimon named Numemon. Disgusting, smelling sludge that chase after the kids through the whole sewer. While running away from the Numemon some of these expressions on these kids faces are priceless. (especially Izzy's)
Everyone is eventually outside and in their away the group bumps into VENDING MACHINES THAT ARE NOT RUNNING WITH ELECTRICITY. Mimi being hasty as she is heads to grab a soda with Palmon.
*Looking A Vending Machine* Mimi: Yay! Soda! Do you want one? Palmon: No I don't!
I don't know why I found that so funny.
As it was foreshadowed the Numemon come out of the broken vending machines with their leader flirting with Mimi as she turns him down. The Numemon don't take too kindly to this and response by pursing after everyone. Most of the slimeballs later get scared and run off by the appearance of Monzaemon. A big teddy bear like Digimon that runs the city of Toy Town.
Palmon: Toy Town is a place where he takes care of all of the abandoned Digimon toys and those toys love him.
Alright then. Mimi and Palmon arrive in Toy Town where everything looks calm and peaceful until the rest of the kids are seen in town square acting like they were brainwashed and chased around by senseless toys. Was that a drinking bird that was following after Joe?
Mimi and Palmon hear a cry for help as Agumon explains to them that the rest of the Digimon are locked up inside a chest box with it being up to them to be the heroes of the day. Mimi and Palmon go on the hunt for Monzaemon as we see here until Mimi feels upset about all of this she loses her temper in front of one his toys.
*A Monkey Playing The Cymbals Appears In Front Of Her* Mimi: Stop that noise! Right now! *Mimi Knocks The Toy Over*
Monzaemon appears as Mimi stands up for herself against him and while Palmon fails to cause any harm to Monzaemon the Numemon come out of nowhere to help Mimi out and like what Mimi did to stand up for herself Palmon stands up for herself and digivolves to Togemon.
Togemon and Monzaemon have a Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago moment with striking blows to each other as Togemon takes the upper-hand against him by unleashing a Needle Spray attack leaving him down for the count and effectively saving the day.
Monzaemon becomes good again and plays a Hearts Attack With A Hug causing pleasure and laughter for The DigiDestined as they float away in the distance.
Verdict: 8.5/10 This was a complete goof fest through and through but I liked what happened here. It was mostly good stuff with some of the most random moments I have ever seen in a Digimon episode occur here. A giant boxing cactus taking on a giant stuffed bear? Instant gold. Mimi while often being an annoying character made me adore her take "no prisoners attitude" she showcased with the even more aggravating Numemon in this episode. Which were in theory the only real reason that brought my verdict score down. I just wised those Numemon would shut up. Otherwise this was terrific. Keep it coming.
Our episode begins with what seems like everyone is doing normally. Moving from location to location covering as much ground as they can but not exactly preparing for what's not there.
The kids in vision what it looks like with them missing home and playing snow during the Winter time with it snowing in the Digital World. Not to mention the constant discussion about food with the Digimon wondering more and more what the human's home planet is like. I never realized how skinny all of these kids were until now and they go far on bragging about how they could eat anything. I wonder what they would do for a Klondike bar.
Getting back to the story here, the weather takes a tumble for the worse with it unexpectedly getting colder by the minute. No one has a clue with what they could do and where they should be heading to next with them getting REALLY APPREHENSIVE OVER THE SMALLEST AMOUNT OF SNOWFALL.
*The Group Looking Afraid Over The Snow Covered Ground* Joe: It's impossible to continue! Tai: So what are we suppose to do? *Mimi, Palmon, T.K. and Patamon Lolly-Gag in the Snow*
The snow doesn't attract their attention for long as the smell of hot steam fills the air and their brains. Our heroes follow the scent where it leads them to boiling hot and poisonous hot springs and A NON-WORKING REFRIGERATOR FILLED WITH NOTHING BUT POSSIBLY E. COLI CONTAMINATED EGGS.
Joe continues acting like a Debbie Downer wondering why he questions himself to be acting like a father figure to the group and get worried over anything that may harmful to him and his friends. Wait Matt and Tai are arguing with each other? Whatever this was about (And it was about whether or not to climb Infinity Mountain) it was probably the most forgettable altercation these two had with each other in the whole season.
With Joe being the oldest and being "the one responsible for everyone's safety" he travels up Infinity Mountain at night with Gomamon covering as much ground as they can until the crack of dawn. The pair later bumps into Unimon who falls under the spell and control of the black gears with him effectively chasing down Joe and Gomamon. Birdramon and Greymon come to the rescue to fight off Unimon and...I don't even know what Greymon meant with what he said.
While Greymon Was Pushed In A Cliff Slide By Unimon Tai: Greymon are you going to be alright? Greymon: I'm stylin dude!
Gomamon eventually digivolves to Ikkakumon and with one blast of his Harpoon Torpedo attack the black gear is released from inside Unimon and he flies off in the sky without uttering a word. Not even a thank you. And that's the epilogue of the episode right there.
Verdict: 8.0/10 This episode just lost .5 point for that dopey line Greymon said. That was completely insipid. Otherwise I thought this was worthwhile. It had it's silliness yet at the same time some fine serious drama that kept me left wondering what could happen next. The fight between Ikkakumon and Unimon could of had a better outcome coming out of it for the time it had but I won't complain too much. This was pretty good all around.
Our heroes are exploring up Infinity Mountain and Joe DOESN'T WASTE ANYTIME by opening his trap and complaining. He's such a crybaby.
A loyal and powerful Digimon named Leomon is strolling through the mountain when "another" one of the ill-fated Black Gears catches his attention. He bumps into what is his rival Ogremon and the ruler of the whole island we later found out is called File Island, Devimon. Devimon demands for Doomsday, Armageddon and all of that other dark sinister stuff to strike upon The DigiDestined's soul with Leomon not welcoming the idea to this with him trying to stop Devimon in the process.
Devimon uses his "Touch of Evil" to gain supremacy over him giving him that generic evil voice acting we have come to know throughout a show like this. Ogremon and Leomon have come to senses with each other to attempt a murder (okay so that's going a little too far) on the kids. Agumon, Gabumon, Biyomon, Tentomon, Palmon and Gomamon digivolve to their Champion levels to hold the two of them off and before the conflict could get any worse Devimon creates an avalanche to cause confusion for everyone as Ogremon and Leomon mysteriously disappear.
All exhausted from the previous fight our heroes try to search for a pit stop to stop for the night and rest. I like how Gomamon moves forward by flapping his claws up and down. A beautifully structured mansion is seen in the distance and our heroes are dared about thinking if they should go inside or not and eventfully they do.
The first thing the gang notices as they enter is that the whole place is deserted. AND A PICTURE OF AN ANGEL IS HANGING UPRIGHT ON ONE OF THE MANSION'S WALLS.
*T.K. and Patamon Looking At A Painting Of An Angel* T.K. Look! It's an Angel! Patamon: What's an Angel T.K.? T.K. Something that watches over you. Just like you guys.
The odor of food catches the attention of Gabumon as he leads them to what appears looks like an all-you-can-eat-buffet and the kids dig right in for the grub. Who in the hell likes to put peanut butter and pickles on their pizza?
The kids fall into deep slumber for the night with them not realizing it was a trap set up by Devimon. The whole mansion crumbles apart and he spins all of the kids around in the air (expect for Tai) while still inside their beds spreading them all around to different parts of File Island, separating them hoping they will never be heard from again.
Devimon real talks with Tai claiming they are the true heroes of this world with them being told by legend they will be the saviors of this world and cause his downfall. Leomon is about to decapitate Tai before his Digivice glows turning him back to normal again (but not for long) as Leomon sends Agumon and Tai off for a ride to protect him from Devimon and telling Tai that he must reunite with rest of the DigiDestined at once and stop Devimon at all costs at some other time. Leaving the series off on a cliffhanger for the next five or so episodes.
Verdict: 5.5/10 I honestly didn't like much of what unraveled here. Nothing was ever resolved. The encounter the kids faced with Leomon and Ogremon at the beginning of the episode was lame. It ended unexpectedly and made the point of digivolving pointless other then taking up the two minutes of air time we usually see it gets. Leomon came out rather uninteresting to me and for "a role model all Digimon look after as" looked like a weakling that could easily be swayed to do anything for evil with what happened to him from Devimon. Doesn't this make all other good and powerful Digmon like him in a lower class useless in this world? This wasn't a favorite of mine and I'm sorry to say that. Hopefully it will get better with Episode 9.
Thank you for recapping the last episode for me Tai. Does anyone ever notice that Agumon's voice keeps changing pitch periodically? Our prologue of the episode begins with Tai and Agumon realizing the whole group of kids are drifting away from one another on different islands and must be reunited with each other somehow. Agumon and Tai aren't having the best of luck in the snow with Tai's clothes getting frozen at one point. These kids sure have weird fashion statements. I'm sorry but the last thing I would be thinking about wearing in a blizzard are a PAIR OF GOGGLES Tai always seems to be wearing around him on his head.
Tai and Agumon are later ambushed by a Digimon named Frigimon. He greets the two with an extremely corny entrance.
*Frigimon Pops Out Of The Ground* Frigimon: Frigimon!
Tai and Agumon botch the attempt with trying to release the Black Gear from Frigimon at first but after some trouble they eventually do. Frigimon is so cute. He leads the two of them across an icy lake where Matt and Gabumon are claimed to have been seen. The weather is not cooperating well in favor of Matt as he becomes completely worried about T.K. and wondering what could be the situation he's in right now.
While Gabumon is looking out for T.K. in the blizzard, Matt's devoted stubbornness gets the best of him as he heads out in the storm nearly getting frozen when Gabumon brings him in the place they were hiding in to stay warm. Gabumon has such a deep voice. He yells at Matt at the top of his lungs but you can't hear the anger in him because of his voice.
*Gabumon Yelling At Matt* Gabumon: MATT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT? I TOLD YOU NOT TO LEAVE! CAN YOU HEAR ME? MATT!
It's morning now and Tai and Matt are reunited with each other with peace that doesn't reconcile with each other that well as while the two are having a discussion Matt believed that what Tai said was that T.K. isn't the main priority to concentrate on for now as the two beat heads and eventually fight with each other. The brawl breaks loose with Matt punching Tai in the face with Tai getting back up and hitting the SPEAR. Spear by Tai! BY GAWD! Tai nearly took Matt's head off!
The two struggle some more near the EDGE of a snowy cliff slide and before Agumon and Gabumon could come to the rescue, Mojyamon (a yeti like Digimon) appears sending the foursome flying off the edge plummeting them to their doom until Frigimon cushions their fall.
Agumon and Gabumon eventually digivolve to Greymon and Garurumon with them using the same old routine here we see them do with releasing the Black Gear from inside of Mojyamon turning him back to normal and turning their direction around to see part of File Island is coming back to pieces again with the hunt for the rest of the DigiDestined on with Matt and Tai putting their differences aside and away...for now.
Verdict: 7.5/10 The first five minutes or so of this was a little underwhelming. I think it may of been a little better for me to get into this if Tai and Agumon were thrown into more grave danger. Since the rest DigiDestined are separated from each other it would of been nice to see Tai and Agumon battle the odds more in the snow with multiple Digimon attacking them rather then having one like Frigimon to deal with. Thankfully the second half of this made it all better. The bickering with Tai and Matt was great with the two of them learning on how they have to put their differences aside with each other and learning how to be a team (which doesn't work out for them here later on in the season.) Everything here may have not been spectacular but how everything was wrapped up together made me kept on the edge of my seat all the way through which made this pretty decent to watch.
Probably won't get an episode up to review for tonight guys. Sorry but my computer time is limited the most during Sunday.
I'll try not to stop for a break between write-ups during the reminder of the week.
Carry on and have some more fun here in this topic if you like.
Greymon probably had the worst dubbing out of all of the "main" Digimon here in the dub. Even Patamon was tolerable for most of the time. Nobody else was probably as bad as him until Neemon in Frontier. Robert Axelrod was probably one of their best (voice of Wizardmon) who I will talk about more as we get to Episode 30 or so. I'll probably do a voice acting tier ranking for Digimon in the future once more characters like Gatomon and Myotismon come in.
Mimi and Izzy are given the spotlight here in this episode as both of them crash land down on the same island. They both safely land in different parts of the island with what looks like a vegetatious rain forest. How did Mimi get her clothes on so fast like that? I also can't ignore her with that stupid line that comes out of her mouth as it's the first thing she says when she is on the ground.
Mimi: Oh No! Humidity!
Mimi and Palmon are exploring more of the rain forest while in the hunt for food until both of them are harassed by a group of Digimon named Chuumon and Sukamon. Mimi doesn't take the compliments they give her very kindly as she and Palmon cross over to another point on the island getting away from the stalkers.
Mimi and Palmon later meet Izzy and Tentomon inside some ancient ruins that are very much unknown to anyone. The walls are written in Digi-Language that catch Izzy's attention. Mimi's restlessness and Izzy's antisocialness create some friction here between the two as both of them show some fantastic chemistry with one other probably better then anybody else next to Tai and Matt.
ROTFL @ Palmon's crying.
*Mimi and Palmon Crying* Tentomon: Izzy! Do something! Izzy: Do what? My laptop can't do everything! Tentomon: I don't know! Tell her your sorry! Izzy: Sorry!?! For What!?!?
Izzy: You think I'm just playing around here?!? Palmon: I think you like computers more then people!
Mimi angry at Izzy runs off in a pathway in the ruins that runs through like a giant maze causing her to get lost inside of it with Tentomon. Palmon and Izzy work together to pinpoint Mimi and Tentomon's location as while the both of them are lost in the scuffle, they meet Centarumon and the guy is not in the happiest mood.
He attacks and chases after Mimi and Tentomon until Izzy and Palmon break the walls down like Chris Jericho and reunite with their respective partners. Palmon and Tentomon digivolve to Togemon and Kabuterimon and they go to war with Centarumon. Centarumon blasts the four of them outside and with one quick move of Electro Shocker and Needle Spray our heroes free the Black Gear from inside of Centarumon.
Centarumon apologizes for his bad behavior and he leads Izzy and Mimi in detail inside the ruins that they possess the power as the Digi-Destined and their Digivices are more then just "a cool accessory" Leomon catches everyone off guard planning to do the unthinkable to Izzy and Mimi with them being the Digi-Destined.
Centarumon: Leomon why are you here? Leomon: To destroy them. The children.
No remorse whatsoever. The glow of the Digivices from Izzy and Mimi scare Leomon off with what appears to be power of sorts that vanishes the dark from the light. Some time later Mimi making herself not seem like she's meaningless is tired from the knowledge Izzy is seeking on the walls and the Black Gear sticking out in the side of the room kicking the Black Gear with her foot turning the Black Gear in the opposite direction. Izzy and Mimi are then sent sailing through the ocean back to Infinity Mountain as another piece of File Island is put back together again.
Verdict: 8.0/10 This was rather entertaining. Bits and pieces here in this episode were thrown so much at me that the plot of the story here was just so random and amusing to follow. The alteration Mimi and Izzy had here together was gold. That's how you develop drama between your characters. This episode may have been nothing more then filler but it was fine ride to relax and watch your eyes fascinate at. Solid all around.