I kinda feel like griping about the Digimon Evolutions is the same as complaining about transformations in a Magical Girl anime or movie or Tokustatu.
Evolutions are our
Henshin. The way it was done in the fight, the Digimon had just gotten there and immediately jumped into combat. Greymon, an Adult Level, was getting his shit rocked against the (also Adult Level) Kuwagamon then
two more showed up. It would be
stupid as hell to have all those Child Levels go
try to beat them up and it would've felt kinda
broken to have them go
without an Evolution sequence at that point.
And we only got them all
once, as in the 4th part we got
exactly what you described. "Action over Evolutions" because it
fit better for the end point. We didn't see each evolution because it would have broken the flow of the fight and lost the impact. (The momentum?) I rather
liked the gradual evolution to Omegamon, with each evolution along the way getting in shots at Alphamon. XD I did kinda feel like it echoed a lot of our Season 3 Ending Fights/the Starfall Threads, though. Just Alphamon all "Nope. *LASER* Nope. *LASER LASER* Nope. *LASER* Denied. *DOUBLE LASER*" until big power boost/equal Evolution Level drives him back into a Digihole. 8D
Also, Graham called it "LoE". *snicker* XD I mean, he ain't
wrong... technically. ("The LoE isn't strong enough to hold the form together." I believe was his exact comment on the effect that happened to Omegamon's head when he was
firin' his lazar attacking with a charged Garuru Cannon.)
* * *
To be honest, though. I hadn't really thought of it that way. o 3o~
Graham pointed out the Persona 3 movies, which is retelling the game's story in four parts. We
know it's going to be in four parts, and we know they'll stop at events, but we're not sure
what events. (We can now guess what the third one stopped at if we can't find out via Japanese boards and such.)
Justin pointed out Sailor Moon Crystal, which is a retelling of the manga. There are five arcs. (
Sailor Moon/"Dark Kingdom" -- Acts 1-14, Black Moon -- Acts 14-26, Mugen/Infinity -- Acts 27-38, Yume/Dream -- Acts 39-49, and Stars -- Acts 50-60.) We're getting the Infinity Arc soon. I am hoping we also get the Dream and Stars Arcs, but they seem to judge whether or not to continue based on the previous season's performance. However, we
know there are 5 parts to this series overall.
We have been told this is... what, a six-part story? We
know there will be more movies. This being a huge cock-tease is; exactly as Graham said;
part of the job description. It's not a retelling like Persona 3 and Sailor Moon Crystal, but it's still a planned series. We got character interactions, reintroductions, evolutions, and combat. We have been pushed into the pool and it's exciting and you want more of it. This is the
entire point and they did an
excellent job of it.
...It was also pointed out that this is a more
adult Digimon. This is what we enjoy about DU, isn't it? A more
grown-up story and these kids that we have as Tamers having to deal with serious issues? Sometimes issues that are
bigger than themselves?
I mean, the start of the story and we see something as serious and devastating as the 02 cast getting rekt in a manner that's kinda worrisome. Although... actually,
looking at it like this... they don't really look too much older than I remember them being in the series. (Miyako maybe looks a tad little older...)
That
might be because this isn't too far after 02's story end (before DAT EPILOGUE) but it could also indicate an
older battle (lost) that changed something...? Hn. [Note: ALSO, I LIKE HOW DAISUKE WAS THE ONLY ONE I MANAGED TO GET A CLEAN PAUSE FOR.]
* * *
......Y'know... Can I ask a different question here?
Why is
Taichi the one getting all this
shit anyway...? >_>
DID
NO ONE PAY ATTENTION TO THE FACT THAT JOU
NEVER SHOWED UP!?
HE
WATCHED THE NEWS, BUT
NEVER WENT TO THE FIGHT. HE HAS
STOPPED HANGING OUT WITH THE OTHERS. HE'S TECHNICALLY
BECOME UNRELIABLE. Is it really all "okay" because he's decided to focus all his efforts and energy on studying for exams? I don't feel that's very fair.
Taichi's big problem is that
he's not sure what he should do. I'm sure that's partly because this is the Analog World. This is where he and millions of other human beings live. This is what they fought so hard to come back to, and now it's in terrible danger faster than they could take it all in. (In danger "again", yes, but if they
have forgotten Daisuke, Miyako, Iori, and Ken, then it's possible they forgot the events of 02 for now as well? So the only threat they would clearly remember was Vamdemon's Shenanigans. They fought Apocalymon in the Digital World. In Cyberspace. They literally
became data and
still won.) This is not the Digital World. This is not some pocket of cyberspace.
This damage can't be repaired easily or rewritten with a snap. The injuries and lives that might be taken in this scenario won't just respawn. They won't just go to Primary Village/the Village of Beginnings and start over. If Alphamon were to just
nuke a train station, (especially at, say, Rush Hour,) ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE ARE
DEAD. YOU
CAN'T FIX THAT.
Taichi is 17 now. He remembers very well what Digimon can do to the Digital World and to other Digimon. He knows what they can do to the Analog World, and to human beings. He's now seen that this 'stronger' Digimon can do even
worse damage than he remembered. Whether he remembers the time spent with the 02 kids and it's just written weirdly in his brain or he doesn't remember it at all,
he's been through these fights before. As an Elementary School kid at Summer Camp, in Junior High, and now Senior High.
Yamato told him if he doesn't do anything, then he's running away, but Taichi was
looking for answers. He's
admitted to Agumon that he's
scared and he now
recognizes that his decisions hold a
lot more weight than he remembered them holding. He told Yamato that he knew they were the only ones who could fight, they were
the only ones who could do this, but he wanted to know
if they were right. He didn't admit to Yamato that he was scared,
directly, but it could be taken as implied.
The flashbacks actually hold meaning. "Repeated Events"
did occur.
Realizations occurred at each one, too. Taichi took in the information from outside and held onto it. He just doesn't know what to properly make of it and he's trying to do it all by himself. I believe he feels like that's always been expected of him, and this explains the words, "I see more and I understand less." He notices a lot more of the world around him and is having a hard time processing it.
- The first and fourth images are from the news report about the incident that ended at Haneda Airport; although, strangely, that fourth image brings to mind the episode where Taichi had to return to the others in the Digital World and left Hikari alone. (That may well be intentional.) These two images, along with the third image of inside Haneda, all show the damage their own Digimon could do even when fighting to stop a rampage.
- The second image was the devastation the Kuwagamon caused, which Taichi witnessed while chasing him down after being buzzed on the soccer pitch. This was damage that Taichi watched happen and watched people trying to run away from.
- The third image... 'Market Mall' was the inside of Haneda Airport. (It, too, gave me a sense of a place in the original anime... the station where Wizardmon sacrificed himself for Hikari and Tailmon.)
- The girls at school was the information that people had gotten hurt. ("Tanaka-kun's dad was at Haneda." "Seriously?" "He got injured and was hospitalized," to which Taichi reacted, but Yamato hurried him along. That's not to say Yamato didn't feel anything, but Taichi willingly took it upon himself to feel responsible for someone else's dad being hospitalized.)
- The lady's mouth was the news report, she had said, "The children were terrified. I hope they never come back." While Yamato and the others kinda got upset that they were 'trash-talking' their Digimon Friends, Taichi realized that's because it was their perspective. The perspective of the world, looking at these things is one of fear. People are afraid of these dangerous things and can only consider them monsters. The Chosen Children, on the other hand, know that they're not all bad; but they also know what these 'unknown monsters' really are. Their parents also understand this. (Mama Yagami is very much Yoshino Hikari-like in her attitude about the whole thing. Only real difference being that Hikari only sees the Digimon as their Live Disguises; hence Auren and Mittens are 'Shugo's cats'. >_>; )
- Taichi's bike was trashed in one stomp by the Kuwagamon, which had made him realize how powerless he was; especially alone.
- Greymon was how trashed poor Agumon got in the Haneda Airport fight before the others showed up. Even with his partner, Taichi felt powerless and confused. He didn't understand why Greymon was getting so terribly trashed and could really only defend. After he was devolved to Agumon, Taichi could only hug him tightly, but the entire time, I felt that he looked terrified.
- The destroyed cellphone and damaged parcel was when Taichi realized how devastating the Kuwagamon was with hardly any effort from him. When he realized how crazy this was and just how much danger people were actually in. (We saw a lot of people, actually, in damaged areas or fleeing. It's not really that much more 'contrived' than Kamen Rider or Super Sentai.)
- And, of course, images 10 and 11 were redraws of the handholding scene from the original anime; where Angemon and Angewomon had to fire their arrows into the two boys to power/trigger their Ultimate Evolutions.
These kids are on the verge of being adults. Taichi, Yamato, and Sora, are all 2nd years. Mimi mentions she's joining as a 1st year, putting her in Koushirou's class. Meiko is a 2nd year, Mimi comments that maybe she'll be in Sora's class. (She is. Sora and Taichi are in the same class when she introduces herself, Yamato appears to be in a different class. Jou states he's "the oldest one here", which makes him a 3rd year.)
So how do I know what Taichi's thinking or feeling? Well. I don't,
specifically, but I feel llike I can wager a fair guess.
Because it's what's happening in Shugotenshi's character arc.Think about it. What's been going on recently? Shugo's gotten a lot of people and Digimon hurt. He doesn't want to
get them killed. He's sort of coming to the conclusion that his decisions have been constantly bad ones and the realization of how close people and Digimon have come to being killed because of him has been making him hesitate more and more. But instead of
talking to anyone about it, he's trying to
deal with everything by himself. He feels that's what's
expected of him. He's the 'Smart One'. The Strategist. The one who can come up with a plan for anything. He's fast, both physically and mentally.
So why does he seem so slow lately...?This is the kind of feeling I kept getting from Taichi for the entire movie. So, I suppose if Taichi was 'suddenly being a fucking puss', then so is Shugo. Which I
do understand how someone can feel that way about the character, (including Shugo,) but because of the similarities in character arcs I felt the desire to
defend the position and offer up a thought as to why he wasn't a 'puss'.
In contrast, Yamato was waving big ol' "Akurei" and "Dagrus" flags all over the damned field, so that
probably didn't help matters. >_>;
* * *
Finally, since I was going back for shit. Long Job Title is Long. > 3>;
Incorporated Administrative Agency, National Data Processing Bureau...
Information Strategy Section, Information Management Office...
Grade 2 Management Officer, Daigo Nishijima.--------------------------------------------------------------------
I have been thinking about this shit for far too long (all damned day) and I
need to go to bed before I
keep thinking on it. X_x Also I have an appointment in the morning anyhow, so I'm off!