EP. 25 - It's sad that Makoto's episodes somehow have low budgets. Even though this is supposed to be an action-focused episode, everything is so stationary. Anyway, thanks to Petermon's shenanigans, GD is back being poor again even after claiming bounty from catching Klay.
EP. 26 - Now this is one of the bitter and better episodes of the Interlude arc. Haruomi survived the colosseum thanks to Elizamon's help and he agreed to help her avenge her Owner's murderer. They stumbled upon Nirinso by accident and Haruomi reunited with Commandramon. But Elizamon got jealous. After Haruomi explained their story, Gekkomon, who saw the ikemen cooking contest earlier, suggested they had a cooking fight-off. It was here that Haruomi learned that HE was the one who murdered Elizamon's previous Owner due to the signature pink curry. As always, Haruomi acted evil so that Elizamon would kill him. But Commandramon took the hit instead, which also completed the revenge in a way. After they reconciled, they settled down in the urban area where humans and Digimons live together, the same area that appeared in EP. 5-6, and opened a pink curry bakery, which attracted a lot of girls thanks to his ikemen trait. But since Commandramon and Elizamon are now under his wings, he would have to deal with their bickering every day, which is like a punishment of sort. He deserved it. Also this episode's pacing is SUPER fast. Too fast for anything to sink in at all.
EP. 27 - The most hilarious episode of this arc. Everyone got infected with love virus from Mummymon and took EXTRA care for their partners to the point of creepiness, especially Kyo who showed his true nature of liking Cougarmon's fur so much he made EIGHTEEN dismembered figurines from it (the Digimon is a mirror of one's self indeed). Thankfully Gekkomon was stubborn enough and gave Tomoro a headsmack which woke him up from the hypnosis, and soon everyone followed. The ending was also comically anticlimactic with Mummymon suddenly having a heartbreak and de-digivolved on his own.
The weakest of the bunch here is definitely EP. 25, followed by EP. 26 with too fast pacing, and EP. 27 is just golden. Truly an arc to just sit back, relax, and prepare for the next major arc.
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Holy shit I couldn't believe I just binge watched all of that in one go. But that just proved how good this arc is.
EP. 15 is kinda slow with the Kinoko gang trying to get revenge on Glowing Dawn but instead of "It's just a prank, bro" things almost escalated into a massacre. Good thing the Baby Digimons are brave enough to stand off. In the end, the Mush Mush gang reflected on themselves and worked on Nirinso instead.
EP. 16 showed how Granit had survivor's guilt and wanted to "die with purpose" so that Stella, his sister figure, would forgive him for surviving a bombardment on his refugee camp. Thankfully, Reina saved him from under the snow and they both worked together to defeat Moosemon.
EP. 17 had Makoto and Hotaruko entered in an awkward situation where she's forced to play pretend as Makoto's coworker to fool her family whom she is constantly supporting. Their act was really enjoyable with them eating at her Okonomiyaki shop as both thanks and cover up. But their relationship got awry after she learned that Makoto was from Shangri-La Egg and hated how he had never had to work for anything unlike her. She proved how she could get things done on her own when she singlehandedly defeated the Burgamon and Burpmon pair as repayment for the debt that Makoto saved her family earlier.
EP. 18 had Haruomi and Commandramon who had enough of Tactics' shady business and ran away. Luckily, they met Glowing Dawn who clicked with Haruomi's dream of having COmmandramon living peacefully, so they staged an act where Commandramon was killed in a crossfire while the real one was hiding using his camouflage ability. In the end, Haruomi was captured and was properly Cold-Hearted while Commandramon was free, but reverted back to Baby from since he could no longer maintain his e-Pulse.
EP. 19 had Glowing Dawn infiltrating Klay's underground humans and Digimon's auction. Their cover was blown and fought against Tactics Team Seven. Raito got too ambitious and forcefully evolved his partner, causing him to go berserk and killed one of the valuable Digimon. This resulted in him getting fired and set up for the next episode.
EP. 20-21 had Tomoro kidnapped by Gokuwmon and entered into an underground colosseum where people bet on results. Those who lost were Cold-Hearted. Eventually, Tomoro and Raito fought, and Tomoro reminded Raito how the Digimon and its partner's overlapping beats can amplify each other, giving them more power. Raito lost and accepted his fate. Thankfully, the rest of Glowing Dawn came to rescue Tomoro in time, with Granit also resolving his issue with survivor's guilt, just as the ring was being destroyed. Turned out all of this was Kanada's plan to pit them against each other.
EP. 22 was the beginning of the end of the Tactics arc. All of them, Klay included, had bounty on their heads. Team Seven was trying to stitch together their members with the help of Glowing Dawn, and succeeded with Hotaruko giving a bitch slap to Naito as her resignation. Honoka was the MVP here, to be honest. I like her melodrama allergy very much.
EP. 23-24 was the final battle between GD and Klay. Klay used a special coffin which siphoned e-Pulse from its victim and fed into Proganomon, evolving it into Pyramidimon, a Mega, but unstable one, which Kyo and Murasamemon defeated. At Kyo's mercy, Klay launched an ambush and stole Kyo, Reina and Makoto's e-Pulse. Tenma, infuriated, overloaded Armalizamon with dark e-Pulse but failed to defeat Proganomon. After also another satisfying bitch slap from Raito, who survived the coffin thanks to his partner, Tomoro realized his mistake and reconciled with Gekkomon. They then evolved into Monarchlizamon and defeated Proganomon. Tomoro then finally learned about the identity of the mysterious monkey Digimon, yet Klay didn't tell them everything because they would definitely meet each other very soon. I know I've been complaining how Tomoro wasn't displaying his love for music as much, but having a flashback about him playing with his brother to reach greater heights is a good reminder how there are still beats in his heart.
I first thought Tactics were gonna be someone who made GD grew stronger, and it turned out the opposite was more correct. It was GD's unique dynamic that helped Tactics overcame their flaws and improved. Not that their influence wasn't important either, because it was their existence and actions that also helped GD slowly grew.
For the overarching plot, Chairman Wong is supposedly responsible for spearheading the e-Pulse research which resulted in Digimon outbreak that combined and eviscerated an island from the map, causing the city where Tomoro lived to be submerged as seawater rushed in to replace the missing landmass. After witnessing the action firsthand on a helicopter with "Professor Tenma" by his side, he is obsessed with Digimon and saw it as absolute power, and promoted Sapotama to make the world revolves around Digimon. His endgame is probably to give birth to an "ideal" Digimon using "ideal" e-Pulse, and Kanada, who is apparently playing the long game unlike Klay who was trying to usurp Chairman Wong very abruptly and violently, would probably intervene later. Professor Tenma might also be responsible for Tomoro's erratic e-Pulse as a countermeasure against Chairman's plan.
Overall this arc is a blast with plot, action, comedy and has a much better pacing than Glowing Dawn arc. It was the right decision to wait and binge watch this because if I had to wait for a week all these emotions that have been snowballing would be dissipating fast. This happened when I was watching Made in Abyss weekly and it just didn't feel the same when I binged it again two years later.
One final note, I think that this series is really good at making you hate characters' traits or actions so much that every bitch slap or punch feels very satisfying. Kudos to that.
I was VERY busy during the time they aired. And when I finally had time, EP. 18+ has already been released. Since I've missed a lot of episodes already, I thought: What if I waited the whole cour to finish before resume watching?
And so I have only just begun watching Digimon Beatbreak again. Since this is a binge watch, I won't have to worry about forgetting earlier episodes' contents, and spoilers didn't work on me because I have absolutely no context of what's going on.
EP. 13 and 14 are the introductory episodes of Tactics, a special force specifically trained for optimal Digimon combat. They worked under Klay, one of the Five Stars, who seemed to be in Digimon trafficking business. Naito is the chief trainer of the Tactics squad. Raito is the leader of the seventh Tactics team, which is considered the best, with Hotaruko, a seemingly nice and considerate girl, and Granit, a quiet boy, as its member. They worked perfectly well with each other with 'optimal and controlled' e-Pulse for maximum efficiency at all times. They are a stark contrast to Glowing Dawn, whose emotions lead their actions. And they proved to be quite an interesting rival and a stepping stone for their growth.
Their methods are ruthless. They lured a Snimon to attack a boy just so that it would evolve to Scorpiomon, which would fetch a higher price in the market. Thankfully, Tomoro was able to retrieve the boy's e-Pulse back and restore him from Cold Heart. Raito, who was being very cocky, got humiliated by Tomoro and got a nice punch from Naito for disobeying his order (god who named these characters? Raito gotto fistto from Naito and gotto nightto nightto.)
Also, it's funny how Tomoro's first reaction after he got called out by Raito for being able to hurt him and his partner was to tell him his name. Like, boy, do you want him to specifically hunt you down or what? Speaking about Tomoro, I like how the attacked brothers reflected Tomoro and Asuka, and Tomoro related himself with them and was hellbent on saving the attacked brother at all cost.
I also like the pacing, which is a lost quicker than the earlier episodes. One nitpick here is that they seem to blow out a lot of budget on EP. 13 on an unimportant battle instead of saving for the first battle between GD and Tactics on who's capturing Scorpiomon first.
PS. Cold Heart is also used more as a substitute word for 'get rid of' lmao
Regarding this, I've switched to Bexa for the meantime because I've been traumatized by Henir High Entropy. It's also a good opportunity to test Bexa with this new balance change. Let's see how it plays out.
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KE's skills after double skill traits become a thing
As usual, only relevant skills after the change is applied. Do note that they can always change stuff later.
Flame Geyser = Critical + Heavy
Sandstorm = Critical + Heavy
These are the ones that get buffed the most in terms of damage with the additional 50% defense ignore from Critical. Sandstorm is getting buffed YET AGAIN. Depending on how much defense the enemy has and how large it is, it could even be on par with other BRV skills.
Double Slash = Gigantic + Heavy
Skill range buff. Should help him clear high floors a bit better.
Spiral Blast = Haste + Useful
There are better skills to use, sadly.
Triple Geyser = Light + Heavy
Unlimited Blade = Light + Heavy
Iron Body = Killing Blow(1) + Regenerating(1)
Kick = Light + Haste
Armor Break = Killing Blow(1) + Haste
Dodge Step = Light + Regenerating(1)
Windmill = Light + Absorbing
Vertical Slash = Light + Heavy
Shoulder Tackle = Regenerating(1) + Empowered
Armageddon Blade = Killing Blow(1) + Regenerating(1)
Impact Smash = Heavy + Light
Counter Attack = Regenerating(1) + Evil
Sonic Blade = Regenerating(1) + Critical
Sonic Blade: Crescent = Empowered + Light
Power Smash = Light + Regenerating(2)
Imperial Crusher = Light + Heavy
Grand Cross = Heavy + Killing Blow(1)
MP cost/CD/QoL buff group. Nothing noteworthy.
We should keep a close eye on Armor Break and Grand Cross, though, since they intended to reduce the buff/debuff given to party. Armor Break's value might decrease and Phy DMG received increased from Grand Cross might be removed altogether.
After Mirror Dell and details of new artifacts are out, I regret to say that only ONE skill can be chosen to have two traits at once.
As such, due to lack of useful offensive trait alternatives for Double Slash, Grand Cross, Triple Geyser, and Fortitude, the choice goes to: Sandstorm.
Four types of options: Fixed. Conversion. Additional. Special.
Fixed - Cannot be re-identified but transferrable like Tenebrous. Determines the nature and usage of Artifact Skill (activated by accumulating a dedicated gauge and then use Master Skill). When transferred, retain the option.
Conversion - Have 3 lines. Can be re-identified using Mirror Del weekly mats.
Additional - Have 2 lines. Can be re-identified. Transferrable and can retain old option and value.
Special - Determined by Spirit Artifact stones from Pepega. Transferrable and can retain old option and value.
For Fixed option of Circlet, use 'Increase the number of times Artifact Skill can be used'. Maximum is 2. Combined with the default of 1, you'll be able to use up to 3 Artifact Skills per dungeon (which sucks, please either increase the base count or just remove the count entirely and change the effect to something else.)
For Fixed option of Armor, use 'Increase Hyper Adaptation by 5% for 60 seconds.' You need as many Hyper Adapt as possible because it ignores normal Adaptation limit, and it directly affects every type of damage you deal.
For Fixed option of Necklace, you can use:
Special Active MP cost -20% for 20s
10% chance of resetting cooldown when using a skill for 20s
Increase CDA by x1.2 for 20s
The buff from the necklace is pretty minor because of how short its duration is (especially in long content like Doom Raid). So don't worry too much about it.
For Fixed option of Rings, use 'Increase the effect of Artifact Skill from Armor by 20%'. Two rings make it 40%. So your Hyper Adapt will increase by 7% instead of 5%. The other option, which increase the effect of Artifact Skill from Necklace, is too short to be noticeable anyway.
For Conversion option, use any offensive stats you can get.
For Additional/Special options, you can either redo everything or transfer them from your old artifacts.
It's funny how Illuga and Gorou have same skill voicelines, and they could run together in Zibai's team since Illuga is her dedicated supporter and she could also use some DEF buff and non-Moonsign buff from Gorou.
Gorou: "Charge!" "Press the advantage!"
Illuga: "Press the advantage!" "The light compels you!"
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KE's skills after double skill traits become a thing
As usual, only relevant skills after the change is applied. Do note that they can always change stuff later.
Flame Geyser = Critical + Heavy
Sandstorm = Critical + Heavy
These are the ones that get buffed the most in terms of damage with the additional 50% defense ignore from Critical. Sandstorm is getting buffed YET AGAIN. Depending on how much defense the enemy has and how large it is, it could even be on par with other BRV skills.
Double Slash = Gigantic + Heavy
Skill range buff. Should help him clear high floors a bit better.
Spiral Blast = Haste + Useful
There are better skills to use, sadly.
Triple Geyser = Light + Heavy
Unlimited Blade = Light + Heavy
Iron Body = Killing Blow(1) + Regenerating(1)
Kick = Light + Haste
Armor Break = Killing Blow(1) + Haste
Dodge Step = Light + Regenerating(1)
Windmill = Light + Absorbing
Vertical Slash = Light + Heavy
Shoulder Tackle = Regenerating(1) + Empowered
Armageddon Blade = Killing Blow(1) + Regenerating(1)
Impact Smash = Heavy + Light
Counter Attack = Regenerating(1) + Evil
Sonic Blade = Regenerating(1) + Critical
Sonic Blade: Crescent = Empowered + Light
Power Smash = Light + Regenerating(2)
Imperial Crusher = Light + Heavy
Grand Cross = Heavy + Killing Blow(1)
MP cost/CD/QoL buff group. Nothing noteworthy.
We should keep a close eye on Armor Break and Grand Cross, though, since they intended to reduce the buff/debuff given to party. Armor Break's value might decrease and Phy DMG received increased from Grand Cross might be removed altogether.
First of all, KOG stated that this balance takes future content into consideration. The new artifact level will allow us to activate both traits at the same time.
Double Slash: Trait changed from Haste to Gigantic.
This will allow more hits on small targets when used at point blank and better horizontal/vertical reach (although not that much).
Grand Cross: Charge time reduced from 0.5s to 0.2s per stage (max 2 stages or 0.4s)
This will make you BARELY be able to spend all 5 usages from Gexa. If you want quick damage, Double Slash spam is still better. But this means that your rotation will be even shorter. Currently, you need at least 1.33x CDA to rotate properly. With 0.6s gone from that, the new required CDA could be around 1.4-1.5x. And with KOG's intention of getting rid of CDA/CDR buff to party, we have to hope HARD they will improve his personal CD management.
Fortitude: Changed from Vitality to Destruction skill (a.k.a damage +50%)
The average and max damage right now is 16,798.32% and 36,956.3% respectively. After WotS change, it will become 25,197.48% and 55,434.45% respectively.
Fortitude is now a contender for big boss damage skill, and a much better frontal clearing skill. But I am skeptical about replacing Grand Cross with it on trans slot because Grand Cross when fully charged on a big boss is powerful as hell. With GC buff, I think using GC in trans slot is still preferred. In normal dungeon, however, it is definitely more preferred thanks to its fast clearing.
So Deneen Melody voiced both Gammamon and Sandrone in Genshin Impact. And oh boy they are SO different. After hearing Gammamon's dub, I couldn't help but think of Sandrone as a more tsundere Gammamon now. And Zeno Robinson also voiced Gulus/Regulusmon (and soon Tomoro). So whenever I see Sethos, I also think of them too. And Alejandro Saab as Greymon line in Time Stranger, so Cyno is also them too.
I think I'll be getting Sandrone for sure now. Just to make a team of Digimon VAs hehe.
(There are multiple VAs who are in both media, like Sean Chiplock who also voiced Kiyoshiro and Diluc, Amber Lee Conners and Griffin Burns as Female Agent(Kanan)/Furina and Male Agent(Dan)/Childe respectively, but these are the ones that are more noteworthy to me.)
You know maybe I was too harsh on the tale of Tomoro and Gekkomon's evolution. The narrative was imperfect, but if it conveyed the authors' messages and invoked their intended emotions within the audiences, then it's effective. I had no qualms about that.
What I could NEVER forgive, though, is this single line that ruined the entire arc:
"I wish you should've never been born."
Let me slowly unravel my train of thoughts.
Tomoro's childhood was tragic. His erratic e-Pulse made him an outcast. His parent got arrested. Asuka and his life now in shambles, yet he skill new NOTHING. He was always the end-product of events that he could not control. So the only thing he could do was to reject that society and lived however he wanted, while hoping that he, too, could find a place to belong. He's not a bad kid, just a troubled child that on the surface seemed normal and cool, thanks to his brother's support, but beneath that fragile mask was a colossal mess, which was quickly shown when Asuka was incapacitated. That final barrier was destroyed, and he was ushered into the cruelty of the real world for the first time.
His emotional turmoil was natural, having lost everything that was his whole world, depicted by his command to Gekkomon when they cornered the Hyenamon that stole Hitomi's e-Pulse: Delete it. He was consumed by rage, completely against his nature, as shown with Gekkomon reacting negatively to it and lost control when overwhelmed by dark emotion that Tomoro forcefully poured into him, only to be saved later by Glowing Dawn.
He then slowly built his relationship with the gang and, most importantly, Gekkomon himself.
In EP. 3, Kyo told him that glitches should not be erased just because they were, which was something Tomoro could relate to owing to his own erratic e-Pulse. He, though still not accepting Gekkomon completely, apologized to him and started calling him by his name.
In EP. 4, Tomoro and Gekkomon learned to open up to other family members and worked as an effective team.
In EP. 5 and 6, Tomoro witnessed Gekkomon's personality and growth, and supported him along the way.
In EP. 7, Tomoro witnessed the sad state of an abandoned Digimon, and along with the rest of the gang, endorsed Kyo's vision of humans and Digimons coexisting, and that all Digimons that they saved, and would save, should have a chance at living.
In EP. 8, Tomoro saw how the society had distorted one's morality, how the government had absolute control over humans AND Digimon's affairs, and decided to go against all of that.
In EP. 9 and 10, he witnessed the catastrophe that Haruka, who vehemently dejected her partner, Shademon, caused, and how Makoto and Chiropmon bonded and reached digivolution.
After 10 episodes, Tomoro had seen it all. Both positive and negative. How Digimon being rejected mirrored his own situation. How understanding and accepting resulted in favorable conclusion.
The build-up of EP. 11 focused on arguments between Tomoro and Gekkomon regarding Asuka's birthday present. As annoying as Gekkomon might be, it was a fair plot point to create the conflict needed to further their friendship. Even though he could not understand Gekkomon and how he could be his mirror-reflection, there was absolutely no reasonable explanation how he could utter that line, because he too, although he did not realize it yet, was in the same boat. Denying Gekkomon's existence was no different than denying your own existence. The notion that earlier EPs have been established to refute. It's not just 2 steps back. This negated all character's growth since EP. 3.
When tension rose and all reasonings abandoned, all that was left was raw, unfiltered emotion. Truth. Blinded by rage, him being able to say that meant he still blamed everything on Gekkomon and implied that his perspective had never changed at all. Him being a kid also didn't justify this, since the overarching theme of the arc was to build trust and understanding of Digimon, and most importantly, your partner. And the protagonists ought to carry that theme along with them.
The line just came too late. If it were said right after Gekkomon refused to follow his command to delete Hyenamon, then it was still reasonable, because Tomoro had not developed any understanding of Digimon yet.
Digimon Beatbreak: A very brief recap of the "Glowing Dawn" arc
Since they name the next arc after the titular Cleaner group name, I feel like this is what I would call the first arc. This post will just be a quick recap of what happened in the first 12 episodes because I don't want to search through my old posts. Some of them will be grouped together if they are a part of the same narrative.
EP. 1 - The Beat of Emotions
EP. 2 - Glowing Dawn
In a world governed and determined by Sapotama, an egg-shaped device powered by AI developed by World Union, Tomoro Tenma was a high-school student with a fiery passion for music. He lived his life according to his own 'beat' and did not care much about the norm of the society. But his normal life came to an end when an accident that was caused by his unusually 'appetizing' e-Pulse leaking into his schoolmate Hitomi's Sapotama. The girl was ambushed by mysterious digital lifeforms and stolen all of her e-Pulse, afflicting her with 'Cold Heart' and became comatose. Later on, Tomoro learned of the news, so his older brother, Asuka, told him to stay put while he worked it out. Tomoro, however, accidentally gave birth to a creature, which called itself Gekkomon, from his Sapotama, before it escaped Tomoro's home. Prompted to go after it, he ignored his brother's warning and chased after the monster. The creatures who attacked Hitomi found the boy and hunted him, but Asuka sacrificed himself to save his brother. Tomoro's desperate cry called Gekkomon to his side and offered him the strength to fight back. Tomoro didn't understand what is going on exactly, but decided to accept the lizard's offer anyway. After ingesting Tomoro's e-Pulse, Gekkomon fought one of the Hyneamons and looked like he's about to win, but the other Hynenamon sibling turned the tide. In a clutch, they were saved by yet another group of people who called themselves Glowing Dawn, all of them having the same type mysterious creatures by their sides. Amidst the chaos, the Hyenamon that had Asuka's e-Pulse in its Sapotama was suddenly ambushed by another monkey-like monster and took that Sapotama away.
Tomoro woke up meeting a group of complete strangers. They introduced themselves one by one. Kyo Sawashiro, the leader, and his partner Cougarmon/Murasamemon, Reina Sakuya and her partner Pristimon, and Makoto Kuonji and his partner Chiropmon. Tomoro then learned about the existence of 'Digimon', creatures born from 'errors' in Sapotama after intaking the Owners' e-Pulse. Gekkomon, his partner, was also one of them. The Ministry of Civil Protection (MCP) oversaw their conception and set a bounty for them and the Cleaners hunt them down, unless the Owners proved themselves also one of the Cleaners. Although frustrated, he had no choice but to join Glowing Dawn if he wanted to find the Digimon who stole the Sapotama that contained Asuka's e-Pulse and saved his brother.
EP. 3 - Facing Mirrors
After a disastrous morning where Gekkomon ate all the stored food, Glowing Dawn went to Maki the Broker to find some bounty to save their stomachs and some information about the Digimon who stole Asuka's e-Pulse. However, the news were twisted into that the Hyenamon sibling was the one who stole it and the bounty was still on it, not the mysterious Digimon. Meanwhile, coincidentally, Tomoro learned that the Hyenamon who stole Hitomi's e-Pulse was still on the loose and wanted to track it down. They were able to corner and defeat it. But instead of taking its Sapotama, Tomoro wanted it deleted. Horrified, Gekkomon hesitated. Tomoro, however, was resolute, injecting his negative e-Pulse into Gekkomon. The lizard lost control, but was stopped by Murasamemon. Kyo then told the boy the only rule of Glowing Dawn: never deleting a Digimon, for a glitch did not deserve to die, but a chance to live.
Since the criteria for receiving the bounty was either deleting the Digimon or handing over its Sapotama to the MCP, and they chose to do neither, their bounty got halved. Nevertheless, Tomoro returned the stolen e-Pulse to Hitomi, and she miraculously recovered and returned to her ordinary life. Later on, Tomoro apologized to Gekkomon for being too harsh on him and started calling him by his name. He also learned that Digimon were 'mirror-reflection' of their Owners, and the existence of Mirror World.
EP. 4 - Family
Glowing Dawn (less Kyo) went for another bounty as usual. But Tomoro's inability to work as a team sabotaged the operation and Reina was injured as a result. Initially, Tomoro didn't want to do jobs that were not related to rescuing his brother, but after learning from Makoto how Glowing Dawn was so important to Reina, he started opening up. During a rematch on the next night, Tomoro returned the favor by saving Reina, and their relationship improved. The culprit confessed that he was only taking an anonymous gig, hinting at masterminds working behind the scene.
EP. 5 - Half and Half
EP. 6 - The Bond of Parent and Child
Tomoro and Gekkomon got lost and ended up in an older part of the city guarded by an elderly man and Pandamon. Pandamon was initially abandoned by his former Owner and wandered here, trying to find some e-Pulse. The boss pitied him and let Pandamon feed on his own. Afterwards, they became sworn father-son and shared their everything half and half. A concept that Pandamon extended to Gekkomon as well.
After several assaults by the local yakuza gang who wanted to drive the residents away to free the land for a luxurious resort's construction, the conflict escalated into a battle between two Ultimat e Digimon, Pandamon and Astamon. Pandamon was gravely injured before being rescued by the rest of Glowing Dawn who came to check out on Tomoro and Gekkomon. The elder tried to settle the dispute by offering himself but got humiliated and sent back with as serious injuries as Pandamon. Tomoro wondered why the elder and his brother had to act like they must carry the world on their shoulders alone. But it was Gekkomon who wanted to act. He told Pandamon that he would avenge the elder, but Pandamon refused to accompany him, reciting the elder's motto. But before the gang set off, Pandamon had a change of heart and joined them with heavy hearts, because he had to cut ties with his foster father.
The battle against Astamon went awry with Gekkomon being held at gunpoint, but Pandamon was cunning enough to turn the tide. Yet, he was about to sacrifice himself to save Gekkomon, but Gekkomon shared half of his e-Pulse with Pandamon to save him in the last minute. Then, the elder reunited with Pandamon, telling him that it was good that he followed his heart, before feeding him his e-Pulse.
Glowing Dawn departed with Gekkomon promising to visit them again while Reina complained that sharing half-and-half was good but not with their bounty.
EP. 7 - Nirinso
Kyo went somewhere without telling Glowing Dawn, leaving Tomoro on breakfast duty. However, he somehow broke the microwave, prompting them to seek Maki again for more jobs. Instead, Kyo's secret was quickly busted when the gang found Yoshimura, who was acting suspiciously, and then forced him to take the gang to where Kyo was at: a secret Digimon nursery he named Nirinso, meticulously hidden behind a wall of hologram built by Yoshimura. There, all Digimon that they encountered on their bounties were raised by feeding off Kyo's e-Pulse, which resulted in him becoming weak.
Meanwhile, a rogue BlackGaogamon was in the area, attacking everyone involuntarily because of its hunger for e-Pulse. It was abused, tortured, and eventually abandoned by its Owner after it was no longer useful. Gekkomon told Tomoro that his beat was off while the boy was drumming the drumsticks. Tomoro felt conflicted because he only thought of Digimon as nothing but weird creatures, not actual sentient beings that needed to be cared for.
BlackGaogamon attacked again. The gang fended it off, but Kyo calmed it down by offering it a second chance to live and feeding it his e-Pulse. It reverted back to its baby form and was accepted into Nirinso as well. Later that evening, Tomoro tried to cook for the gang but failed horribly, so he asked Kyo to teach him how to cook sometime later.
EP. 8 - The Vanishing Classroom
Hitomi had a chance encounter with Tomoro and Gekkomon when she went to visit him to ask about what happened to her. She then learned about the existence of Digimon and realized that it was all real. She then asked both of them to help her investigate the disappearance of several top-ranking students, one of which was her friend.
After school, they were lured into a room where a mysterious voice trapped them in there and kidnapped Hitomi and Tomoro. Gekkomon was later saved by the rest of Glowing Dawn (less Kyo). Turned out that the culprit was a Digimon named Mimicmon. It escaped the gang into the Mirror World and the fight followed.
Meanwhile, inside Mimicmon, Tomoro and Hitomi was chained up. He also found the Owner of Mimicmon, a male student who accidentally gave birth to Mimicmon with a simple wish of wanting those who were better than him to disappear, so that he could have a chance at living in Shangri-La Egg, the utopia of the society. He, however, denied all responsibilities of being Mimicmon's Owner and didn't help Tomoro in any way.
Outside, the fight went awry as Mimicmon absorbed the victims' e-Pulse, Tomoro's included, which boosted its power tremendously. However, because Tomoro's e-Pulse was so strong, he intentionally let it absorb too much to overload it, creating an opening so that Gekkomon could enter and save them. All victims were sent to the hospital, but as the de-digivolved Mimicmon tried to escape Tomoro's grasp, it unfortunately ran into Kawarazaki from the MCP, who pressured the gang into surrendering the Sapotama to him, showing that the MCP is absolutely in charge, much to Tomoro's frustration.
On the following day, Hitomi returned to the school as normal and met Tomoro. But after being reminded how his e-Pulse didn't conform to the norm of the society and witnessing how twisted one's belief could get from wanting to live inside Shangri-La Egg, he did not want to be a part of a society like this anymore and walked away, much to Hitomi's confusion.
EP. 9 - Utopia
EP. 10 - A True Friend
Glowing Dawn's next bounty lay within Shangri-La Egg itself, and even as Cleaners they didn't have the authority to freely enter. Therefore, it came down to Makoto to spearhead the infiltration. As a scion of the prestigious Kuonji family who resided in the High-Block End of the Egg, he could easily enter thanks to his lineage. After he got inside, he hacked the security system to fake Tomoro and Reina's faces as janitors so they could enter the Egg safely as well.
Residents of the Egg lived their strict, daily lives trying to save up to live on the High-End Block, an even more luxurious estate atop the egg where it's considered the zenith of the society.
Their bounty this time are a bunch of GoldNumemons, nasty Digimon that threw golden poops at enemies. The hunt went well until they were interrupted by another pair of Cleaners: Sunny and his daughter Haruka with her partner Shademon, who could enter the target's shadow and control their actions from inside. Haruka was surprised to meet Makoto again after a long time, and wondered how the prince of the Kuonji family ended up here. Without much conversation, Haruka easily overpowered Glowing Dawn by controlling GoldNumemon and used its attack against them, easily defeating the gang. She then fled with her father while announcing all bounties as theirs.
Later on, Glowing Dawn was ambushed by Haruka again. Exposed and gaslighted by Haruka, Chiropmon was brainwashed by Shademon and fell into Haruka's possession, who fed Chiropmon her e-Pulse and overpowered the gang, confidently declaring that Digimon were nothing but tools.
Shocked by how Chiropmon was taken away from him, Makoto wandered off on his own, while the rest couldn't do anything. Kyo, having learned of this, was furious and stormed into the Egg by force. After learning of a black market deal that placed a bounty on Chiropmon, the gang went to the location tipped by their leader. There, Sunny was fully prepared to ditch his daughter in exchange for Sapotama Fake, a fake ID that wiped your criminal records clean and came with a new identity. Sunny and Haruka were actually residents of the Egg before being exiled due to Sunny committing fraud.
Haruka protested, reprimanded her father for such cruelty, to which he cold-heartedly agreed, and that it was no difference form how Haruka treated her Digimon. The gang and Kyo arrived just in time before the deal was completed. The masked blonde woman greeted them at gunpoint, but normal weapons wouldn't work against Digimon.
Meanwhile, Haruka, consumed by grief, fused with Shademon and wanted to delete everything. They ended up in Mirror World, where Haruka used Chiropmon to attack Makoto. However, their bond triumphed over Shademon's ability, and Chiropmon was able to break free. After a heartfelt reunion, Makoto's e-Pulse beat, and Chiropmon digivolved into NightChiropmon.
NightChiropmon battled Haruka-Shademon. The latter eventually got desperate and tried to erase herself and memories of Makoto, but Shademon finally interfered, begged Haruka to stop and asked NightChiropmon to save them. NightChiropmon complied, and separate Haruka from her partner. The girl now accepted her ugliness and Shademon as her true partner.
Back outside, the masked woman destroyed Sapotama Fake because Sunny didn't keep his end of the deal. Kyo punched Suuny to submission for meddling with his family, before facing with the masked woman who threatened that he wouldn't get off that easily. Suuny was apprehended by the police. Haruka was considered the victim of her father's abuse. Kyo offered her to become a part of Glowing Dawn, but she, and Shademon, wanted to find her mother instead.
EP. 11 - A Black Emotion
EP. 12 - A New Family
It's Asuka's birthday and Tomoro wanted to find a gift for him, but Gekkomon kept insisting with his choice that he ruined the one Tomoro picked. They had an argument and couldn't see each other in the eye for a while. Meanwhile, a Raremon appeared, causing havoc around the water supplies. The gang went after it, and was having a good teamwork, until Gekkomon tried too much and messed up their coordination, resulting in all of them being injured. Worse of all, when Tomoro found Gekkomon safe and sound, the brief respite turned into fuming frustration, telling how Gekkomon always caused troubles to others. Gekkomon told him that he just wanted to prove he's not useless. Tomoro finally snapped and told him he wished Gekkomon should've never been born. Struck hard by Tomoro's word, Gekkomon lamented. He was born because Tomoro gave birth to him, but now that he was denied that existence, darkness surged inside Gekkomon and he went on a rampage, even almost eating Tomoro himself. Kyo and Murasamemon tried to both fend off Raremon and Gekkomon at the same time, but yet another complication appeared.
Kutsuna Kaito, the Five Star of Fire, a member of the top Cleaner group of the world, had come to get rid of Raremon himself. With just a blast from his partner Flaremon, Raremon was incinerated, and Gekkomon was subdued. Tomoro tried to retrieve Gekkomon, but was stopped by Kaito. Kyo begged Kaito to let his family go. The gang was shocked upon learning that their leader was a part of the Five Star. After seeing Kyo, he wanted to fight, but decided to back off when he realized that it was not the same Kyo that was once the Five Star of Gold. But just as he was about to leave, Gekkomon attacked him, causing Flaremon to retaliate with a powerful flame attack. Murasamemon and Kyo was injured trying to protect Gekkomon and Tomoro, but Gekkomon was hit too hard and de-digivolved into Kekomon, unfortunately.
In the aftermath, Kyo asked what Tomoro wanted to do next, while also assuring that he would not abandon Asuka. Reina tried to approach him, but fearing of hurting them further, Tomoro retreated and went to see his brother, while Kekomon, afraid to talk to Tomoro, fled the scene. Pristimon and Chiropmon tried to help Kekomon mended his relationship with Tomoro, but suddenly, a gigantic Digimon, MarineBullmon, slowly advanced towards Glowing Dawn's home. Pristimon and Chiropmon hurried back, while Kekomon rushed to Tomoro to seek help.
Meanwhile, Tomoro, sitting helplessly beside his comatose brother with drumsticks in his hands, admitted that he didn't know what his beat was anymore, and hated how his brother didn't tell him anything after their parents got arrested, them having to move out and his brother quitting his band and school. Afterwards, Kekomon arrived, ingesting his Sapotama and digivolved back to Gekkomon, told the boy of the danger Glowing Dawn was facing. However, Tomoro was reluctant to go back. Frustrated, Gekkomon told his partner why wouldn't he tell him anything, which mirrored Tomoro's younger self, before Gekkomon stormed off on his own. Tomoro reminisced about his brother's perspective on the predicament: though everything was against them, it's not always bad. He got to stay with Tomoro more, and he appreciated it. Tomoro reflected it back on himself and Glowing Dawn, before he too followed Gekkomon.
Back at the base, the gang was having a hard time fending off the overloaded MarineBullmon. Shortly after, they were all defeated, Gekkomon included, and almost deleted from the lack of e-Pulse. Fortunately, Tomoro came back in time and resuscitated Gekkomon. He apologized for everything he had said earlier, and together with Gekkomon, their e-Pulse beat. Gekkomon then digivolved into Armalizardmon and defeated the monster.
Meanwhile, from afar, the current Five Star of Gold, Kanada Genjo watched the event unfold in the shadow. He was then later accompanied by Kaito, who wanted to hit Kanada so bad. Unfortunately, the same monkey-like Digimon who appeared at the very start of Tomoro's adventure stood guarding Kanada from the shadow. Kanada playfully teased Kaito before expecting them to meet again at the next Five Star meeting.
Afterwards, Gekkomon learned to leave some space for Tomoro, and Tomoro also proudly introduced Gekkomon as a part of his new family.
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Of course the official Digimon X(Twitter) account had to spoil me before I watched the episode. This is Ghost Game all over again ffs.
These two episodes were what we all waited for: Tomoro and Gekkomon's bonding and digivolution. But to be honest, I didn't feel that hype compared to Makoto and Chiropmon's.
Like how I mentioned that Makoto and Chiropmon's moment could be better if there was more foreshadowing, Tomoro and Gekkomon needed EVEN MORE foreshadowing because of their main protagonists position. There were moments where Tomoro thought to himself here and there, but they were short and not impactful enough, or related to what's been happening in those episodes. Granted, the others also needed their moments to shine, but surely you could delegate a few minutes to, you know, focus on the main pair?
I felt some disconnection between Tomoro and Gekkomon's relationship as the story went on. In EP. 3, Tomoro accepted Gekkomon's existence and called him by name. That's Step 1. In EP. 5-6, he witnessed Gekkomon's personality and should've known his partner a little better, yet he said nothing about it, so I considered this no Step made. In EP. 8, he trusted Gekkomon to come to save him when he's eaten by Mimicmon. That should be Step 2. Apart from these, there was no significant development about their bond.
Then came these two episodes, where they had a catastrophic fallout which resulted in Kyo being injured and Glowing Dawn in turmoil. Tomoro faded himself from the gang and sought respite near his comatose brother's side, which at that time he thought was the only family member he had left. Then a monster appeared and tried to destroy the gang's hideout. Gekkomon rushed to seek help from Tomoro. And after another argument, Tomoro remembered how his brother treated him and realized there's a silver lining after all. He chased after Gekkomon and saved him in time from being deleted. They had another typical friendship talk, Gekkomon digivolved with, for the first time, an insert song, and defeated the monster.
My first problem with this was this was yet another time Tomoro acted because of his brother. It's not something he learned, it's something he remembered. It's not realization, but repetition. Granted, due to his past, his attitude was all over the place and he tried to blend in this new family he had only been with not for long. But after 12 episodes, he ought to come up with some 'urge' to act on his own and not just reciting what his brother told him.
My second problem was Gekkomon. He's been portrayed as a comic relief so far. And him having such a bratty attitude during these episodes made him quite annoying. He sought Tomoro's attention so much that everything went awry. And for him to realize that was only after the calamity that they both caused. It's a good lesson for him, but did it really have to go all those annoying arguments?
To sum up what irked me so much: THEIR COMMUNICATION WAS FUCKED UP FROM THE BEGINNING. One was an introverted outcast who had troubles talking with others and the other was an extroverted baby who shoved his unfiltered thoughts unto others. None of them ever tried to talk either of their own problems seriously, thus resulting in this conflict. I know it's the intended part of their growth, but that didn't stop it from being so annoying to me. Maybe I'm just not a fan of this type of character development, where all of this could be prevented in the first place by just TALKING TO EACH OTHER (which they finally did, but ugh the amount of time they took before that).
And I could surmise why they had to wait this long to do that: lore. Because in these episodes, we were introduced to 2 Five Star members: Fire and Gold, and also Kyo's backstory of having been a Five Star member, Gold (welp at least I got that right), with some exposition about the World Union, the organization who created and managed Sapotama, being behind the MCP's action related to Digimons all along (wow, nobody could've seen that coming for sure). Introducing the Five Stars too early would minimize the suspense, reduce the impact of their appearance and the revelation of Kyo's past, so they were forced to drag the gang's growth for as long as the worldbuilding needed.
I didn't disagree with that approach. It is an authentic development for both the characters and the world, but the execution left a bad taste in my mouth. Tomoro thinking Gekkomon should've not been born? Should have said that since earlier EPs where their bond wasn't that firm, then slowly remediating it as the story progressed. Tomoro thinking he'd found a new family? Definitely should have more of those moments displayed on screen with him enjoying being in their company and having him reflect on that in EP. 12. Tomoro finally prioritizing the people who actually live and battle alongside him instead of his comatose brother who had low to no immediate exposure to danger? SHOULD'VE BEEN THE FOCUS OF HIS ENTIRE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT OF THE FIRST ARC FFS.
If I want to change some plot points, I'd keep Tomoro's anger about ruining Asuka's birthday present intact (because Gekkomon was actually annoying in this EP), but not to the point where he outright denied Gekkomon's right to exist. Rather, when they were fighting Raremon, their coordination were so poor that they ended up being a burden, and the rest unfolded the same way.
When the monster attacked, make it so that Kekomon was unable to go looking for Tomoro and have the rest of the gang fended off on their own. Kekomon wanted to help but was powerless. He ranted about how Tomoro wasn't there and wished with all his heart for Tomoro to come help them, like a dying wish of sort.
Cut to Tomoro, who went to see Asuka and talked about losing his beat. Made him actually drumming to find his beat again and remembered the time he spent teaching and sharing his love of music with other members (though the prior episodes would also have to have this snippet for this to work), and realizing that it was not all bad. THEN, he remembered what his brother told him, and that urge to go back would move his ass back to Glowing Dawn ON HIS OWN (could be him finding his beat again and syncing with Kekomon's e-Pulse and heard his wish and rant from afar idk it's Digimon you can do anything ffs.) When they reunited, Tomoro complained but accepted about everything Kekomon said, and the rest of the dialogue went pretty much the same. This reduced the depiction of Tomoro being dragged around by others and being the active main character. Heck, Haru, who was portrayed as a 'not-protagonist' was even more protagonist-ic even in earlier episodes of Appmon.
In short, nice development plan. Not as nice execution.
Back to double-episode format again, and for a good cause, because this is our long-awaited moment.
The gang aimed for a bounty as always. But this time is different, because the location is inside the Shangri-La Egg. We saw how Makoto is actually an heir of the prestigious Kuonji family and could easily enter the Egg's security system (and even got an offer for a free ride to the household because they live in the High-End area, which by the Egg's standard is even more luxurious. Makoto then hacked the cleaning staff' records and faked Tomoro and Reina's faces to bypass the security. This means that even as Cleaners who intend to deal with Digimon issues, they still don't have the permission to enter the Egg. Maybe they need to be a really special cleaner group like the Five Star to earn that.
Although Makoto's background reveal was somewhat predictable, I wished it was foreshadowed more in earlier episodes, like him dropping certain information that only an insider would know, and how Tomoro noticed Makoto's reluctance to talk about where he learned these things. Even a short flashback would serve its purpose.
We also got to see how life is like in the Egg. Turned out it's still another level of dystopian bs where the ones who thought they were rich STILL having to get even richer to live in the High-End Block where the real deal lives. Even in the future we still couldn't escape capitalism smh.
Nevertheless, they got to deal with three GoldNumemons. But they were intercepted by another Cleaner group: a pair of father and daughter, Sunny and Haruka. Haruka's partner was Shademon who has a "conveniently-useful-for-creating-tense-and-discord-moment-between-friends" ability: the typical brainwashing, which could easily be activated by entering the target's shadow. This ability is abused TOO much in my opinion. Like the gang wouldn't have a chance AT ALL if it's not for Digimon's signature friendship bs. Not only did this destroy the battle dynamic because the power difference between the protags and the villains are too high, but it's such a boring ability as well.
Anyway, Haruka brainwashed all three GoldNumemons and even Chiropmon because there is a demand in the black market. Makoto is of course distressed by this and wandered on his own. The news got to Kyo and he was FURIOUS. He then brute forced his way into the Egg to save his family. Meanwhile, Sunny met the female masked buyer with "obviously-and-totally-not-related-to-Makoto" vibe because of her dress and her blonde hair. The fact that one of the targets included Chiropmon should be enough to infer that she wanted Makoto to be rid of that thing and returned to their household. How else would someone have enough connection and authority to make a counterfeit Sapotama (called Sapotama Fake, which is a dumb name). Basically, it's a fake ID card for those who wanted to hide their criminal records and began with a clean slate. Since the government issued Sapotama and could monitor them thoroughly, the person who could obtain such thing must be of high importance, and what could be more established in-lore than the Kuonji family itself?
Also good to know that despite living in the future their weapon of choice is still your good old guns. Definitely not effective on Digimons because of how OP they are compared to puny humans (not everyone was Marcus, for now...)
Haruka got demolished by how her soul was also as ugly as her partner and that it was indeed her mirror reflection. She wanted it all gone. Erased. And so she FUSED with her partner. The concept of fusion was not new, but it's not been used in a long time that it took me by surprise when it returned here. And I don't know if it's just me, but if these two episodes had the same animation budget as EP. 1 and 2, the moment would be more fulfilling. Because after Chiropmon broke free from the brainwashing thanks to The Power of Friendship(TM), WE FINALLY GOT OUR SECOND CHAMPION EVOLUTION.
It's also the first of the series that there were little to no preview of the evolved from ANYWHERE on the internet. They did a superb job of keeping it confidential and that made the digivoluiton so much more satisfying (again, more budget would be better here). NightChiropmon looked like a cyber ninja and it was cool af.
As the fight went on, Haruka became nihilistic and aimed to destroy Makoto, her childhood friend, for good. But in a true Digimon fashion, Shademon, who was abused from the beginning til now, suddenly grew balls to object her for the first time, and made an opening for NightChiropmon to defeat them. Haruka was de-fused from Shademon and she finally accepted her ugliness, inside and outside.
Since the deal failed, the masked lady destroyed the Sapotama Fake while Sunny wailed. She threatened Kyo that he would regret meddling in her affairs before leaving. And that left Kyo with Sunny, who BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF HIM THANK GOD THOSE PUNCHES WERE SO SATISFYING. He then got locked up and awaited to be sent to the MCP for trial. Haruka was offered a position in the Glowing Dawn, but she wanted to visit her mother instead. Makoto was worried if she would be okay being alone, to which she denied confidently: she's not, as the sun cast a long shadow beneath her.
To be honest, Haruka's case was a tragic one. Her father was too obsessed with money that her mother left her, and she was abused so much that she became so twisted and heartless, seeing Digimons as nothing but tools, which was probably a reflection of Sunny's POV that she inherited. I know she didn't deserve the backstory, but she DEFINITELY deserved some consequences. She got off too easily. I just hate it when someone did bad things, even under others' influences, and walked away. I wouldn't say this is better for her, but it'd be more consequential if one of these happened:
Shademon reverted to the baby form after separating from Haruka, causing it to forget everything and they had to make new memories together again. This is a judgement on how her desire to erase everything has come back to bite her.
The MCP immediately swarmed them and took Shademon and its Sapotama from Haruka, who cried heavily from having to lose her partner permanently.
Overall, these episodes would be better if it had a little bit more foreshadowing with Makoto, and more fluid animation. The next one showed a glimpse of Fire from the Five Star and also Dark Gekkomon's comeback. Kyo also seemed to have some troubles, which might be because of how he had forced his way into Shangri-La Egg without permission. Shit's going to break loose.
(Anyway how come the security inside the Egg was so lax compared to admission? There seemed to be no guards or polices who immediately came after the story ended.)