Patamon's World > Tai's Digi-pinions > The Anime Pundits: Digimon Savers, pilot
The Anime Pundits
Digimon Savers - Pilot
words by Mac McFearson and Takeru Yamamoto
Welcome
one, welcome all. As the title suggests, this is a review of the first
episode of Digimon Savers. What follows are two similar, yet
interestingly distinct, reviews. The first from 11-year-old gamer and
anime fan Takeru Yamamoto. The second from myself, Mac McFearson, a
16-year-old writer and not-so-much anime fan. This unique tandem comes
together first, because we felt no one had produced a review of this
depth, and second because this combination may be able to shed light in
ways one individual could not. Takeru is a younger, optimistic anime
fan, while I'm slightly older, slightly more skeptical and a bit more
diverse in my viewing tendencies. By providing these views side-by-side
we think we can contrast some interesting differences in opinion and as
a result produce a unique outlook.
We hope to
produce something that is insightful, thought provoking, and
entertaining and in the process gain an excuse to do what we like best
- go over board in analyzing and discussing something that intrigues
us. Most importantly we hope you enjoy it.
Takeru's Take
Odd
things have been happening to the well-beloved series, the fourth most
perused category in the Anime section of FanFiction.net, the series
which sparked a massive, conflicted (and might I add: horridly
uncivilized) fan-community. First there was Digimon. And then
there was a sequel. Then a spin-off. Then an alternate universe. And
then... absolute silence. For three years, no hardcore fan ever saw
another season of Digimon. There was X-Evolution, which sparked very little attention. There were the three dubbed Digimon
movies, which were as discriminatingly well-received as the rest of the
translation. And then... a final attempt to save the series.
It's
funny how you come to expect something from the continuation of a TV
show, but you get something totally different once it finally comes.
And that's not always a bad thing.
Savers is basically, once again, another alternate universe of the Digimon
we know and love. Little is known about Savers, as little backstory is
provided. It supposedly takes place in the near-future. A secret
government organization called DATS (Digital Accident Tactics Squad...
odd name, yes) has been created, and it serves to keep reckless Digimon
from escaping from the recently discovered Digital World.
One
sunny day, a random Agumon escapes, and happens to just as randomly run
into a boy whose name is Daimon Masaru and he happens to be a hotheaded
street-wise gangster with at least a shred of caring (perfect goggle
boy qualifications). We're also introduced to our female lead, Fujieda
Yoshino, a member of DATS, who is chasing Agumon. She really doesn't
have any outstanding personality quirks yet, so it's not really
well-known what she's like. Anyways, as stated before, Masaru finds
Agumon, they get into a fight, and they become friends (wtf?). Masaru
does very little to acknowledge that Agumon is plainly otherworldly,
which is strange, but not unexpected.
That's basically how it
starts out, and it sets the basis for the entire show. I'm not going to
reveal more than that at risk of spoiling anything. No signs of
possibly entering the Digital World yet, which is possibly one of a
number of cards taken from Tamers. Another one of those cards
is that none of the characters have outstanding clothing styles. No
cowboy getups, aviator vests, or annoying giant puffy orange hats with
no explanation. Everyone looks quite normal.
Which leads to the first thing I noticed about the character designs. The show looks a lot less like Digimon
and a lot more like Generic Anime Number 2 this time around. Characters
sport more of a general anime look. Of course, this could simply be the
sign of growth, or maybe there's a new artist working for this series.
Either that, or it could be an attempt to attract mainstream fans.
However, I don't like it. That's just personal opinion, but I miss the
character designs that I'm used to.
The presentation is sharp.
Everything from lush backgrounds to detailed cityscapes appears here
and in full-fledged greatness. While the show itself doesn't have
massively major production values, it still manages to look quite
pretty. There's very little to complain about. The sound design is good
too. The background music doesn't have anything specifically memorable,
but it doesn't pervade with inherent horridness. The opening and ending
themes are decent for J-Pop songs.
We get the first evolution
sequence in this episode, as Agumon evolves to GeoGreymon for the first
time (whom, by the way, looks exactly like Greymon; what's with the
name change?). [ Greymon and GeoGreymon have slight physical differences including red stripes on the head and more jagged appearance for the latter - Ed.]
It's shorter than what we've seen before, but it looks just as good as
ever. It also doesn't come with a prolonged dance ala Frontier, nor does it come with a wacko execution saying (like Zero Two with its "DIGIMENTAL UP-A" ridiculousness). It's more... normal. And this time around, it's definitely for the better.
Anyways,
the story is interesting, at least. Not the most creative, but it's not
cliche and unimprovised either. The voice acting is sharp and strong,
the sound design is worthwhile, the overall presentation is attractive.
The fact that its further in the future gives a fairly large amount of
room for expansion; I'm personally hoping for some cameos of previous Digimon characters. Altogether, Digimon Savers is decent. Not excellent, but good enough to watch and follow.
Take
to note, however, this is only one episode, and will most likely not
reflect the rest of the season. The series could get better from here
on, with lots of story twists and excellent character development like Tamers, or it could become a monotonous, uninteresting monster-of-the-day marathon like Frontier. Who knows? We'll just have to find out.
Mac's Musings
By nature I am cynical, sardonic, saturnine, skeptical or
whatever other negative adjective pleases you. My melody is a cacophony
of discontent entreaties imploring that which I observe to transcend
itself to reach something more, something better. It is a noble calling
bastardized by contempt methods. It should come as no surprise
then that my reaction to a confirmation of a fifth season was
skepticism, and my reaction to skepticism refuted being simple
surprise. It is seldom seen instances such as these in which what
started as skepticism evolves into tempered joy.
Irony has its way in that my cynicism may have been what allowed
my interest to be educed, particularly by one Daimon Masaru, Savers
lead character. It is only appropriate that any summation of Savers
begin with Masaru as obvious is not a strong enough word to denote how
much this series is about its protagonist. Being as undisguised as
always, I'll say that were it not for the presence and performance of
Masaru this review would not have been so much as a concept. With
respect to the promise I saw in the first episode as a whole, Masaru
makes this series worthwhile. His strength is inspiring, his
tactlessness endearing, his inclination to violence as a means of
expression sobering.
Unlike my younger counterpart,
I do not feel Masaru is a classic "Goggle Boy" - not in the slightest
sense. He is just reluctant enough not be a hero, just courageous
enough not to be an anti-hero. I'm nearly tempted to use my favorite
adjective, cynical, to describe this one. His initial interaction with
Satsuma, leader of Digital Accident Tactics Squad, is certainly
indicative of this. Masaru didn't seem the slightest bit interested in
learning about the DATS when an explanation was provided to him; he was
concerned with himself and his, nothing more. Even his motivation for
fighting Kokatorimon was indignation over Agumon being accused of a
crime he did not commit. In Masaru we don't see a hero, we see simply
someone who gets what he wants at any cost, and if justice or heroism
is along the lines of what he wants, then so be it. Some may argue this
has been true of other Goggle Boys; 'some' would be wrong.
The plot, if it can be truly be called such, in the first episode
is, to my dismay, lacking. Looking through a dictionary one would be
hard pressed to find a word more accurate than 'lacking' to describe
the plot in Savers inaugural episode, save for perhaps gaunt. Save for
the luminous of Masaru's character, the first episode of Savers had as
much substance as a marshmallow. I do not note the story telling
prowess of an 18th century American novelist as requisite for the first
episode of an anime series, I do however require that sufficient
back-story and setup be present. The beginning of the first episode of
the first series of Digimon that we've witnessed in years started with
all the distinction of a twelfth episode of Frontier coming back from
commercial break, and unfortunately the rest of the episode held true
to this. Worse yet is that we were not even offered the consolation
prize of subtlety for an opening. While the fight scene between Masaru
and Agumon served as an effective teaser(something that, may I add, is
a distinctly American method and something an astute viewer will view
as "cheap"), it left no more than indifference being fought off by
nostalgia in the battle to keep me watching. Were it not for the
entertainment provided by Masaru calling Agumon a "bastard" I
may not have continued watching after that weed thing started spitting
sunflower seeds. Needless to say, as the episode went on enjoyment
began to creep up on me.
The scene I enjoyed the
most was Masaru and Yoshino conversing in front of the fountain just
before Masura is taken to the DATS headquarters. My appreciation for
this scene owes not only to the masterful depiction of silhouettes
against a soft cityscape and fountain backdrop, but because it
contained perhaps the only instance of back-story. And while a
government agency dispensing information about a character to that
character is asinine, lazy, trite, and the most common example of an
"info dump" -- an error reserved for only the most amateur of
fan-fiction writers -- it is the only real expansion on story we have
and for that I appreciate it. Complaining about any such expansion in
this episode is like murmuring about impure oxygen; polluted air is
always better than suffocating.
The voice acting
was appropriate. Masaru's sound fitted his persona well. Likewise
Agumon settled perfectly between sounding too childish and too
monstrous. Voice acting is not one of my areas of expertise and I hold
no command whatsoever over the Japanese language, but the fact that I
could decipher what was going on in any given scene even while covering
the subtitles with my hand speaks volumes about the skill of the voice
actors.
At the mention of subtitles I must take
this time to comment on the subbing job done by With the Will forums.
Considering most of us do not speak Japanese and rely on subbing to
watch these shows, WtW would deserve our appreciation regardless of the
quality they produced in this endeavor, considering the efficient
excellence they graced us with they deserve our unmitigated praise.
Perhaps I don't have much to compare it to(I don't watch subs often),
but all I require is that subtitles be pleasant aesthetically, legible,
and unobtrusive - the subbing job in this case meets all of those
standards without except and thus garners my highest praise.
Overall, this first episode was not rich enough to incite true
excitement, but novel enough to provide hope that it one day will. If
Masaru stays as good as he's been early, if Yoshino gets better, and
the plot fills out then we may just have a winner on our hands. Who
knows, they may even get this cynic to remember his happier childhood
days.
Copyright © 2006 Mac McFearson.
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