Digimon Xros Wars episode 2

Okay, I've been reaaaaally late with Souten Kouro. I have to get a grip and finish the damned chapter. I am a bit worried about the current status of scanlations, after OneManga was closed. As a consequence (?), no proper RAWs for Mahou Sensei Negima chapter 297 have shown up so far. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we'd be getting spoilers for ch. 298 before that happens. I'll have to wait for the volume to be released, apparently. On the other hand, I'll try to buy the Gokuatsu version of Souten Kouro, which seems to have 3 volumes per volume, I think. Anyway, back to Digimon.

So, I've watched episode 2 of the new season, and, to be honest, it's not bad.


The episode starts with Shoutmon carrying Taiki to a cliff, without actually explaining why he's doing this (either Taiki is light, or Shoutmon is strong. Judging by what happens in the ep, I'll go for the latter). Shoutmon shows him his village, the Smile Village, part of the Green Zone (according to the subs, it's Grin Zone. Yeah right). Taiki asks Shoutmon what the Green Zone is, and Shoutmon can't even explain what a "Zone" is. Enter Jijimon, an old-man-Digimon (go with it), who defines a "Zone" as a country. Shoutmon calls him a "jiji" (literally, an "old-man"), and Jijimon bonks him, demanding that he be called Jijimon-sama. Thank you for pointing out the transparent etymology of his name, Japan (mind you, this show is for kids. You know something's wrong with you when the first time you hear "jiji" is New Getter Robo). Anyway, seems there's a war in the Digital World and the Green Zone was annexed by the evil empire's Bagura Army [citation not needed, look at the screen]. And Taiki will fight as the Green Zone's General (I guess we'll find out later what it means). Aaaaand they're being attacked by Madleomon's army (or rather, just one Digimon. One that flies and bombs. Yikes). Shoutmon tries to use Ballistamon to jump and beat the baddie, but we get a good demonstration of why flight beats vertical movement. Taiki uses the XrosLoader to make the Pickmons combine into a slingshot. That's pretty creative (I love the brush effect they use for the X). Shoutmon is blown towards the baddie and beats him in one hit. He says that with Taiki's help, he can become the Digimon King. Cue ominous Digimon somehow swimming in the ground and stealthily going away. Akari wants to go home (mainly because the following day is Marine Day and seafood is at half-price. Best. Reason. Ever.) and starts crying. Enter the aptly-named Cutemon, who ends all phrases in "kyu", who doesn't want Akari to cry. SUDDENLY!, the ominous Digimon from earlier shows up, with a clear intention to massacre them. I don't know if I should laugh at the sudden change of mood from cuteness to friggin massacre. Anyway, he's easily beaten by a tiger-like Digimon with a Core Drill from Gurren Lagann for a tail (I'm dead serious. By the way, he's voiced by the same actor as Kamiyama from Cromartie High School, Izuru Kira from Bleach and Kururugi Suzaku from Code Geass), putting an end to the twist. Cue next twist: the kids wanna go home. Shoutmon can't accept that, since he needs Taiki to become the Digimon King (not that he tells him that's the reason), so he uses the pretext that his village has to give them a reception. During the reception, Taiki isn't particularly impressed by the food, until he sees the femininely cute Lillymon (which people will remember from seasons 1 and 2 as Mimi's partner's Perfect/Ultimate form). Xros Wars? smashes a rock. Akari points out that humans are weak and that they couldn't possibly help them. Shoutmon leaves, calling Taiki a baka, in the most classic tsundere style. Xros Wars! still leaving. After yelling on his microphone that they should leave, like a jealous girl, Shoutmon finds out that Madleomon's army is coming. He doesn't stop them (remembering Taiki's words earlier) and prepares the village for defence. Taiki and co. are attacked, and Madleomon wonders how these weak humans can be a threat to them. "Like this!", shouts Taiki, who throws sand in his eyes, and they run away. They are cornered (and almost manage to run on a steep cliff, upwards. Badass?). Orochimon is about to kill them, when, SUDDENLY, Shoutmon stops it! He just couldn't leave them like that. However, Madleomon absorbs Orochimon and turns into... well... see the screen, I'd be redundant if I said it. Ballistamon manages to hold the two Orochi heads that were attacking Shoutmon, while Shoutmon uses his agility to attack Madleomon head-on. The latter muses that one of them has great strength, but no speed, while the other has speed, but no sense of fighting, and then hits Shoutmon so hard, that his data becomes fuzzy again. Even as he is about to be killed, Shoutmon says that if he doesn't become the Digimon King, he won't be able to protect the village. Taiki realises that it wasn't Shoutmon's selfish dream, and finally decides to help him. Using his XrosLoader, Taiki makes Ballistamon and Shoutmon combine into Shoutmon X2 (a different form from the one last episode), who showcases the advantage of Xros Evolution: they cover each other's weaknesses. Using Pickmon-slingshot to pull himself back, he feints Madleomon, who, by trying to block the attack, leaves himself wide open and is defeated. Madleomon retreats, while The-Girl-With-The-Ridiculous-Hairdo says things have gotten interesting. Next episode seems to feature "Blue" and a DigiXros between Shoutmon, Ballistamon and Dorurumon.

All in all, a solid episode. We get some info on Shoutmon (as well as a mysterious silhouette when Taiki talks about the Digimon King), as well as a minimal amount of exposition on this war. Also, we see that the other two kids with Digimon can use DigiXros (it's safe to assume that Ridiculous-Hairdo can). Madleomon seems to be turning into a villain of the week. I don't mind, Tobita Nobuo is always an enjoyable voice actor. I wonder how this will continue.

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~!

Sengoku Basara season 2 has begun! Are you ready, guys?

Put ya guns on!
~ Date Masamune, Engrish-spewing hero of Sengoku Basara ~

So yeah, this blog has been pretty much dead for over a year. Again. Some people might know that I've started scanlating Souten Kouro (I'll be releasing more chapters this summer), which I was reviewing on this blog loooooooooong ago (until they stopped subbing it).

As you might recall, the other series I was reviewing was Sengoku Basara, the overly energetic adaptation of the game series of the same name (and, in a way, of the historical Sengoku period, kinda. It's hard to say. It's... just insane. In a good way). After the last episode, a new season was announced, and there it is! Sengoku Basara Ni has become, taking Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood's slot on TV (said series is amazing, at least after 37 episodes. Everyone and their mother has reviewed it so far, but you're better off watching it yourself. It's that good).

Sengoku Basara was by no means a masterpiece, but it was incredibly fresh in its over-the-top-ness. The villain, as you recall, was played by Norio Wakamoto, who is... well... an amazing ham. You had the passionate Sanada Yukimura, loyal to his Oyakata-sama, Takeda Shingen (who rides while standing on horses. Which isn't riding, but it's awesome). You had the eyepatched Date Masamune (who rides horses with motorcycle-handles) and Katakura Kojuro, his right-hand man (okay, if you insist, he's called his Right Eye). You had Uesugi Kenshin, ambiguously-gendered rival to Takeda, and Kasuga, his loyal ninja girl (loyal? I'm sorry, I meant to say that his touch gives her an instant orgasm. Hell yeah!). You had the other ninja, Sarutobi Sasuke, voiced by Koyasu Takehito, who's played many roles, but is always recognisable. Sasuke works for Takeda and is the "straight man" during Yukimura and Takeda's shout outs. I'll ignore any homoerotic undertones in this series, since they hardly play a role.

Anyway, Sengoku Basara Ni, episode 1. Takeda has a final fight with Kenshin, while Yukimura fights to stop Masamune from intervening in this showdown. Amazing fighting from the very first moments, but Yukimura ends up falling against Masamune, when, unexpectedly, a fourth army shows up, willing to beat everyone unless they give up. Their leader is the humongous Toyotomi Hideyoshi, accompanied by masked man, Takenaka Hanbei. Takeda and Kenshin join forces and have their soldiers fire arrows at them, but Hideyoshi freaking waves them away, leading to a lot of casualties for the good guys (yeah, you're pretty much sure by then that Hideyoshi is the new big baddie). Masamune and Kojuro take on the two, but they have to retreat. After that, we are introduced to the new opening theme (half-way through the episode) and after we are shown the opening animation to season 1 (I'd watch it any day, really), we get the aftermath (including a scene featuring Maeda Keiji, voiced by the same actor as Bleach's protagonist, Kurosaki Ichigo. Seems Keiji knows Toyotomi, and I certainly hope he gets some focus, since last season, he didn't really do much. It wasn't a cameo, and it was certainly not worth being considered a protagonist back then, so it'll take some effort to impress me this time), as well as a friendly reminder of the running gags between Takeda and Yukimura. And again, as straight-faced as Sengoku Basara can, they punch each other with impossible power, discussing their tactics. Okay, I'm being inaccurate, it's more like Yukimura keeps lunging at Takeda, and Takeda smacks him further and further, while Yukimura argues that they should attack Osaka right now, since Toyotomi won't be expecting it. Takeda says that it's obviously a trap, and that they'll have to go to the west and ally themselves with a third party, since Toyotomi will probably ally himself with Mouri Motonari (who wants to get even with Chosokabe - don't worry, these two only showed up in the first episode of season 1 and in the last one. Maybe they'll get more screentime, as they seem to be pretty popular in Japan). After they agree, we get the ever-classic shout-out between the two. By that, I mean that they yell each other's name repeatedly. Here's the clip. Yeah. Sengoku Basara is full of these. And that is not bad. The last scene in the episode features Masamune's camp in Oushu. Incidentally, Masamune had the same intention to attack Osaka, but Kojuro says they should try to pacify their surrounding regions, else they lose all their territories. However, there seems to be a spy among them, since Toyotomi even knew of their surprise attack. In the very end, we see Kojuro run into Hanbei, who reveals he has the spy as a hostage. In exchange, he offers him to join them. Next episode seems to be about Kojuro joining them, or at least getting out of service for a while.

That's Sengoku Basara Ni, episode 1. It's really good to see the survivors from last season, and it's also good to see some new characters and some less-seen ones. It's by no means a series that will boast with a great plot, like FMA, but it looks like it will be very solid. You see? (to quote Masamune's English words - a bit better this time).

I'll be trying to watch some more of this season's anime, but I'm quite sure I'll review all of Sengoku Basara Ni.

That's right. This blog will live. It. Wil. Live!