DIGIMON IS BACK!!! After a long hiatus due to the pandemic, we get right back where we left off with Taichi having been sent to the Digital world. Though to be honest I wasn’t really feeling this episode was much as the previous three. Not only did it feel a tad rushed, but some of the reactions just didn’t feel genuine. Like when Sora happened to find herself also transported to the Digital World, she didn’t seem too bothered by it. The majority of her response was just going “huh…” like “oh this is kind of weird” when really you’d be like “WHAT IS THIS PLACE?!” Like even in the original Digimon Adventure, the kids were both shocked and mildly freaked out (some more than others) over being in a new world. But so far, everyone reactions just feel so subdued and way too accepting. So far, everyone just feels a bit too bland like they’re just trying to fit into a specific stereotype. Almost a hollowed version of their characters. Though it is just the 4th episode and there is room to grow. But just taking a peak at the original again, they did really well in showing a bit more emotion than they do here.
I do like that they are taking their time in introducing all of the kids, even if there doesn’t seem to be that much to them currently. Hopefully the series will prove me wrong and go more into depth with these characters. Anyways, we get to meet Biyo- erm, Piyomon, Sora’s partner. I’m not sure why, but it just looked so cute to see them hug. Piyomon just looks so fluffy and huggable. But yes, we get another Digivolution this episode, even though I was a bit disappointed with how they chose to show it considering how dramatic and awesome Greymon’s was in the first episode. So I feel like Piyomon was kind of robbed in a sense since Agumon’s reusable Digivolution sequence was more exciting and kind of stole the show away from Birdramon in a sense. And while I am disappointed they are going to stick with reusable evolution sequences, I have to admit that seeing Agumon’s made me emotional because of how good it looked.
So far, it was a very typical episode with Digimon partners fighting off the aggressive Digimon attacking them. Not much plot progression as it was probably mostly just introducing Sora and Piyomon as characters. Though it seems like they might meet the rest of the other kids at that weird temple that the Digivices were pointing to. And while I SHOULD be concerned for Koushiro and Tentomon being eaten by a Whamon, I’m sure they’ll be fine. And who knows, maybe Whamon is taking them to meet up with the others.
There is something I’m a bit worried about though. I noticed that there were A LOT of animation shortcuts through out the episode. Not only were there A LOT of close ups but a bunch of reused still shots. I was honestly getting a lot of Persona 5 the Animation war flashbacks and that’s never a good thing. I also noticed that Snimon hardly ever moved out of his default pose, probably because its design is too detailed to animate easily. Which may prove to be a problem from this point on because so many Digimon designs are SUPER detailed. There were also some rather wonky stills with some of the proportions being outrageous. Such as Taichi’s hair just being OBNOXIOUSLY large in one frame. The animation felt a bit more stiff in this episode unfortunately. Which is a shame because I know it could do a lot better than that.
I should have known there would be a lot of problems production-wise, but I guess the first few episodes really spoiled me. Character emotions have been a bit disappointing since it doesn’t feel like there was that much despite Sora and Piyomon having a big moment in the episode. The pacing feels a bit off and characters feel hollow imitations so far. I hope this series will get better and find the heart that made the original so memorable and great.
Also a moment of silence for Sora’s visor. It will be missed. Though her typical hat is a nice throwback to the original character I must admit.
