Digimon Xros Wars

Ah yes, Digimon. First adapted in an animated form during the Pokemon hype, it boasted a larger cast of characters, actually menacing villains (heck, first one was a devil) and actually talking partner creatures (I refuse to consider Pokemons who just say their names talkative). In its own way, it worked in a shonen style, with power-ups over power-ups, in contrast to Pokemon, who made the monsters evolve for good, in a perfectly natural way (kinda. Except for Dugtrio. How does a worm evolve into three worms?)
Unlike Pokemon, Digimon had a plot, with small story arcs. The monster-of-the-week element was pretty reduced and you'd usually get a satisfying conclusion (usually. I'm looking at you, Digimon Adventure 02). Another notable fact is that the third season - darker than the others and, in my opinion, better - was directed by Chiaki J. Konaka, who also directed series like Serial Experiments Lain and The Big O. As far as I'm concerned, this was my third anime, first being Grendizer when I was in kindergarten and second being, of course, Pokemon (back when it was, well, exciting. And in the superior German dub). Unlike the latter, the German version of Digimon kept the songs and soundtrack of the original, just translating the lyrics. And they. Were. Catchy. And good. Japanese nicovideo users really like the German dub too. Anyway, I used to watch it on RTL II, until it was taken off our cable. I got to see the first 3 seasons back then. Later, I downloaded low-quality but dial-up-friendly raw eps of Digimon Frontier, which introduced me to the hilarity of Japanese. Incidentally, it was after those few eps that the series went downhill. I was hyped back when they announced Digimon Savers, the fifth season, but I never got around to watching it. I'll definitely give it a try, since the main character is voiced by the same guy as Sanada Yukimura from Sengoku Basara. And is equally hot-blooded.
Anyway, due to this delay, I almost didn't notice they had announced another series, called Digimon Xros Wars (read: Digimon Cross Wars). I'll let Wikipedia explain about it.
Taiki Kudo is an upbeat boy with a desire to help those in need, although tends to overexert himself. One day, he hears the voice of a Digimon named Shoutmon who is on the verge of death. Wanting to help him, Taiki is given a Digivice known as a Xros Loader, and he and his friends Akari Hinomoto and Zenjiro Tsurugi are warped to the Digital World where they meet Shoutmon and his allies, Ballistamon, Starmon and the Pickmons. By using the power of the Xros Loader, Taiki can perform a Digi Xros, which can fuse any of his allies together into different forms. Taiki and his friends use this ability to fight the forces of the Bagura Empire while crossing paths with Teams Blue Flare and Twilight.

Yay, a comrade who fights against the evil that is Twilight! Okay, jokes aside, it seems pretty hit-or-miss. Digimon Frontier actually gave up on the partner element, creating something that... well... was pretty much Saint Seiya. I think. Anyway, the idea of having the digimon fuse into various forms is... similar to Jogress Evolution in season 2 (or, as the English dub calls it, DNA Digivolution), when two same-level digimon combine into another, stronger one (usually containing elements of both of them. Usually). As such, I can't say it's something new, but it means there's a risk of focusing less on the idea of "a boy and his partner" and more on the idea of "a boy and his many partners", like that other popular monster series. Anyway, I watched episode 1 today.


It wasn't bad, really. Kudou Taiki, voiced by the same person as Conan Edogawa, main character of Detective Conan, seems to be a chronic needy-people-helper who can become an awesome basketball-player in four days and help win a match (while parodying the usual scene of scoring the final point spectacularly. He spins around in the air with the ball, only to pass it. Bros before balls!) For some reason, this basketball match made him get exhausted and collapse. Enter Hinomoto Akari, voiced by the same person as Nagase Kaede of Mahou Sensei Negima! and Anew Returner of Mobile Suit Gundam 00 S2, who seems to know about this overexertion problem and dives to prevent him from knocking his head on the ground and ending this series before the break. Akari had been looking for him quite desperately, at least until she saw a blimp and took an amazingly good photo of her and it, then going home. Until she remembered what she had come for. While hilarious, this scene makes me worry for the future of the good guys. Imagine the damage caused if someone throws a shiny coin at her during a fight. Ohohoho~! Anyway, after Taiki is saved, enter the third kid of the show, Tsurugi Zenjirou (voiced by the same person as Bleach's temporary Sexta Espada, Luppi), practitioner of kendo, who sees Taiki as a rival after having lost to him off-screen. Taiki tries to explain that he had won out of luck (as a practitioner of kendo, I can say that he must have a shitload of natural skill), and Zenjirou obviously doesn't believe him. SUDDENLY! Taiki hears a melody, then a voice telling him it's dying. Zenjirou and Akari are quite baffled at Taiki talking alone, but this overused cliche is quickly ended by the sight of a car halfway through a building, as if absorbed. Wait, what?, is their reaction, naturally. The voice tells Taiki to dodge to the right, just as the car was falling from the building. Taiki sees the disappearing data of a small dinosaur-like digimon (which means it's the main partner, of course) and goes to save it. Unfortunately, it's dying, as far as digimon go. Uuuuntil a different, plot-advancing voice asks him if he wants to save the melody of that life. And of course, he does. The device that appears in front of him, called Xros Loader, turns red (like said digimon) and transports them to an unknown world. For some reason, Zenjirou and Akari try to keep him away from it, but either way, it's too late. As a side-note, it doesn't seem like Taiki is just a happy-go-lucky hero, since he has some form of tragic past and wants to help everyone (reminds me of so many someones, particularly Emiya Shirou of Fate/Stay Night) and is overall pretty serious.
So anyway, they go to this world, and the small digimon is alive and healing inside that device. SUDDENLY, an army of much larger digimon attacks them, led by Madleomon, voiced by Tobita Nobuo, known for his performances as Camille Bidan of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and the Major from Hellsing Ultimate. The three kids are saved by a Ballistamon and a few other comic-relief digimon. The small one tells Taiki to summon him, which he promptly does. He tells him his name, Shoutmon. A good sign, really, maybe he'll really shout and be badass. Please be badass. Anyway, seems his attacks are... music based? Rock and roll based? Anyway, hotblooded enough. Madleomon absorbs some of his soldiers and turns into Armed Madleomon (there's your imaginative name of the day). Shoutmon is in danger, but Taiki runs to save him, despite his demand not to be saved. Taiki is told to use his Xros Loader by Plot-advancing Voice (tm), which he does. Shoutmon and Ballistamon fuse into... no name given yet-mon? Who looks okay-ish, although for some reason, he has Omegamon's head. I'm okay with that. Seems this kind of evolution is legendary and very rare. Nothing is too rare for Main Characters (tm)! He deals a heavy blow to Madleomon, but immediately devolves (that was short). Shoutmon tells Taiki to give him more power, and he fuses with ... the comic relief digimon. who turn into a sword. A small dinosaur is holding a cool sword and is beating on a giant vaguely lion-ish monster. Cool? Cool! He devolves into his previous form, but is called back by a certain Lord Tactimon, who specialises in tactics (... really?). Oh, and he promises to massacre them next time. I love how cool Japanese are about violence. The episode ends with a girl with a ridiculous hairstyle looking upon them superiorly. And then, with a boy looking at the girl looking at them, from an even higher ground. Crossing the line twice, indeed.
So that was episode 1. Definitely a good start to the new series. I'm quite interested in Taiki's past and his tendency to save people at the cost of his own health. On the other hand, there is the matter of the dream sequence in the beginning, before the opening song. It's quite ominous, showing an obviously evil army of digimon, considerably larger than the one they face later in the episode, as well as the good guys, led by Taiki. When he was dying, Shoutmon claimed he wanted to become the King (and he still does after that). I'm not sure if this is meant literally (like in One Piece or in Bleach) or if it refers to some sort of status achieved by winning a tournament. Either way, it seems the shadowy villains are interested in Shoutmon. I have a small gripe with the tendency of showing things three or four times for drama (it happens twice in this episode). It can be done well, but the first time, it was preeeetty ridiculous. The animation quality is amazing. I'm really impressed. The colours are vivid, the characters look great, the fights are exciting and the voice acting is pretty good (as expected from what is basically an all-star team). I am a bit surprised that the eyecatch shows some main character digimon from previous seasons. Should we expect a xros-over?... Okay, bad joke, but the question is legit. Anyway, I'll probably be keeping an eye on this series as well.
I would like to apologise about Sengoku Basara. I had forgotten there was a 13th episode in season 1 (which was only shown DVD), and it covers Maeda Keiji's attempt to have Mouri Motonari and Motochika Chosokabe fight against Nobunaga, while Maeda Toshiie tries to convince Chosokabe to give some lands to Nobunaga (mostly because they were being menaced as well). These underused characters get some spotlight and we find out how they came to rescue the main characters in the final battle. Mouro Motonari is incredibly dark and cold, killing his hostage men and then killing those of Chosokabe, calling them pawns. Chosokabe, despite being a pirate, is more likable. In the end, Maeda Keiji finally does something and stops the two, showing that he is quite powerful indeed. It'll definitely be more interesting to see them in the second season, considering all the character development in episode 13. I'll try to watch episode 2 one of these days and review it as well. As for Souten Kouro, expect the following chapter soon. After that, I'll have to translate the Japanese script, so it will take a bit longer. Wish me luck~!