#sanpei

Hotaruko and Granit have opened up a limited-time okonomiyaki store at a secluded beach where they invite Tomoro, Reina and Makoto to celebrate before the official opening. I’m not sure about Hotaruko, but Granit still works as an independent cleaner but is mostly the store’s errand boy at the moment. It’s nice to see that the two considers Glowing Dawn as their friends to the point that they invited them to the beach. I do like that Ludomon and Shakkomon do help with the cooking too! Ludomon seems to have talent with flipping the pancakes. In all honesty, the okonomiyakis look so good. I want some. Other than that, I did wish they had some more involvement other than getting captured by Team One, but I understand the circumstances.

Raito has gotten closer to Monodramon, which is a nice sight! I know for a fact that Raito from the Tactics arc before his development would have never given Monodramon a piggyback or carried him and jumped off a cliff together. The way Raito has transitioned from seeing his partner as a tool to finally seeing him as a living being was nice! Raito does seem to keep the arrogant “I act like I don’t care but I do” sort of personality, which is nice because that’s who Raito is, in a way. I do like how that one guy from Team One was like “Raito was looking down on us” with Granit replying “He’s always like that.” The reveal that he’s now working under Kaito does implicate two things: 1. Kaito, Honoka and Rose are not enemies; 2. The Raito-Naito-Kaito rhyming was on purpose. It’s honestly hilarious when you think about how Naito and Kaito have unresolved homobromantic tension with another man (Klay for Naito and Kyo for Kaito) and Raito himself has some with Tomoro. This also indicates that Raito will show up again in a future episode, which I will be happy about since I like seeing Raito and Tomoro’s interactions.

I can’t believe there’s more Tactics lore in that one straggler team has been resentful of Team Seven’s success before disbandment to the point that they blamed the downfall of the organization on Raito and not on Naito or Klay. Their Digimon choices are quite interesting as Sealsdramon and Hi-Commandramon are all part of the Commandramon evolution line. It does make me wonder if Commandramon is a common Digimon that is hatched amongst those in Tactics. Still, I’m amazed with how much of a hard time these guys have given Tomoro and the others. I think this is the first time an evolution was interrupted in the franchise as Sealsdramon stole the Sapotama, making Gekkomon unable to evolve at first. I’m glad that Tomoro was able to figure out that he can use his e-pulse to make Gekkomon find it. I think the Vulturemon was the toughest of the opponents due to the sniping.

The voice cast for the guest characters are quite interesting. Ichinosuke is voiced by Kazumasa Fukugawa who voiced a game narrator in Ghost Game. His roles outside of Digimon are mostly minor or supporting. Vulturemon is voiced by Daisuke Kishio who voiced Hyemon Pierced/Punimon; his other Digimon roles include Zenjiro in Xros Wars and Arata in Cyber Sleuth. Nichika, the sole female member of Team One, is voiced by Ai Maeda who voiced Mimi Tachikawa in Adventure and 02 and other supporting roles in various Digimon media; she’s also the singer of the Adventure ending song I Wish. Her partner Sealsdramon is voiced by Tomohisa Hashizume who voiced a lot of minor Digimon in Xros Wars; outside of Digimon, he’s mostly known for voicing Bertolt Hoover in Attack on Titan and Delico in Gangsta. Sanpei, the blond guy, is voiced by Yudai Mino who voiced Sunarizamon, who was Klay’s partner Digimon when it was its Rookie stage; outside of Digimon, he voiced the little Vegeta in Dragon Ball Daima. His partner is Hi-Commandramon who is voiced by Hosoda who was in an earlier episode as well as some minor Digimon in Ghost Game. By the way, did you know that Team One has a number theme? Their names start with the Japanese words for the numbers 1 (Ichi), 2 (Ni), and 3 (San). I found that interesting.

Apparently, Megumi Han, Gekkomon’s voice actress, stated that the conflict with GIFT will start next week, so it does make me wonder what’s going to happen. Judging from the previews, they are in conflict with Rose and it also does seem to be a Reina-focused episode given the connection she and Rose formed back in Episode 29. Will we finally get to see Wolvermon evolve? Let me know your thoughts on this episode!