The Anime Pundits

Digimon Savers - Episode 2

written by Mac McFearson and "guest pundit" The Digimon Community

Unexpected circumstances can lead to some interesting methods. I'm sure you noticed the byline. Yeah, no one told you, I neglected to call your agent, but you helped me write this edition of TAP. Suprised? Don't be. While Takeru Yamamoto, the usual second pundit on TAP, taking a trip to Europe was certainly unexpected, his replacement shouldn't be. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to sell you your own product; I did try to get you guys a real guest pundit, but with my knowledge of Trip Euro only coming on the night of the sub release for episode two, I wasn't left with much time and a delayed review is a diluted review. What you'll find below, preceding my usual analysis, are comments from three different forums(mostly from With the Will) discussing episode two of Savers. This isn't perfect, and far from what I'd like to offer up to the Digimon community which deserves only the best, but it's all I got and I truly hope you enjoy it.   


[The People's Perspective:]

This episode was great, I'm really excited for this series even more now. It seems different, yet it still reminds me of a mixture of the other series.(Greymon2001, WtW)

Just watched the subbed version.  Am not impressed so far.  I see elements of pokemon and other series.(Meowy, RyuX)

Now that I look at the episode title again, it seems to be pretty long and trying to say too many things at once. (Li Jianliang, WtW)

Wow, Masaru's mother is very cute!(Li Jianliang, WtW)

Wow Masaru's mom looks even younger than her son.(Fiascomon, WtW)

Yoshino comes over and teaches Masaru that the Digivice iC is the world's most high-tech Pokeball, and things start to happen at school.(MetalGururumon, WtW)

Also: Agumon is a student of Solid Snake. Or knows Guilmon.(Neo Arkadia, WtW)

The whole deal with Agumon suddenly not being in his Digivice, is oh so like Pikachu.(HiKaizer, RyuX)

Masaru + Yoshino + Tohma....can anyone say love triangle???(Meowy, RyuX)

I don't think it's the characters that are the issue here, it's the depraved fans who have a pathological need to pair everyone into couples that are the issue!(HiKaizer, RyuX)

Unfortunately, while Sunflowmon's voice is an improvement (slightly lower), it just stood there and used Sunshine Beam and then that was it.(Greymon2001, WtW)

that Sunflowmon was defeated so easily is kind of disturbing, but that aside it was another great ep!(twincast, WtW)

Yoshino does not seem to have a bright future, since apparently SunFlowmon got pwned.(Anubimon, WtW)

This series is also really bending the laws of physics - like a whole sauna full of steam can be made from a kettle of hot water, and also how Masaru can jump fifteen feet at will.(gerjomarty, WtW)

Does Masaru take after Michael Jordan or something?  This is twice now he jumped and punched a couple story tall digimon!  No human can jump that high.(Meowy, RyuX)

I have reservations about Tohma.(Silver, Net Ocean)

[Mac's Musings:]

Direction means a great deal to a great many deal of people and its momentousness finds itself aggrandized for any endeavor seeking to be great, anime not withstanding. In direction we should not see rigidity or stringency, but but a purpose that makes life more than mere existence. In any form of fiction, direction is what makes mere depictions into a story. If you think I think too highly and too much of this too often, then you would be indubitably correct.

If there is one thing I am not it is a liar; if there is one thing I want and cannot have it is subtlety. My emphasis on direction, plot - sapid, intricate, exquisite, plot - is neither hidden nor fumbled with in an attempt to do so. In my first look at Savers in episode one, this was made obvious. Agreeable or not my view was that is was near impossible to concoct one at all. I was left to decipher the plan of construction with no instructions at all, only pictures. Only an imbecile tries to put something together using just pictures. Furthermore, we were not given introductions to our cast. It was like arriving at a party full of stangers and being expected to recognize them at sight alone; seeing someone and even knowing their name is not an introduction.

And so I trod forward towards episode two traveling with people I did not know and ungainly attempting to carry with me random pieces of events that I hoped could be constructed into plot. Masaru was unnervingly mute. I poked him with my speculation, hoping he would divulge some insight into his character, his life. He remained silent. Not far behind us was Yoshino, looking stupefied yet somehow still eerily cheerful. Her head was tilted down and as she walked she monotonously kept repeating the same phrase over and over again, "This is the worst... this is the worst..." I shook my head in dismay; they were slaves to apparently the most ignorant of masters. And since these masters were also their creators, they appear as they are: one made dumb and the other made dumb.

As we approached the second installment of this series I suspended my overbearing demands and was sufficed to ask for only one thing: direction.

And so it was granted to me. Episode two nearly stumbled over episode one in the best of ways; what was lacking most in the latter would be quickly supplied by the former. And while episode two, judged alone, could be reprimanded as easily as episode one for a rushed opening, judged as the predicate to episode one's subject(which is truly what it is) it functions appropriately.

Being the plot junkie I have already professed myself to be, I was ecstatic to get my fictional fix in this episode. Not long after it was made apparent Agumon's freedom and current state of existence was being threatened, Masaru's flight took him to no other place than his home. A home where he lives with his family. The inclusion of his family is minor and not of resounding importance, but for the sake of realism and further exposition we should know something of his family. And so we did.

As a whole what we saw of Masaru's family was good. But there is something I must address.

When Masaru was up in his room feeding his orange friend, he heard a voice that probed for his presence. He panicked, I was excited because this would be the first instance of his family we would see. At the opening of his bedroom door we were greeted by a pleasant feminine face. She looks pleasant, I thought to myself. This must be his sister; young, pretty, it must be his sister. Then in one instance, with just three letters, one word, my deciphering psyche went from confident to bewildered.

"Mom."

Mom? Are you kidding me?

That women isn't a day over twenty-nine! I exclaimed in the silence of my mind. Masaru is fourteen. Since when does Japan advocate teen pregnancy through its entertainment medium? At this revelation the forum of juvenile haughtiness that had been formed was shattered into vitros and yet that same vitros was not needed to put it back together again.

Well... even though she is his mom, she's still kind of cute, I thought begrudgingly and somewhat embarrassed. 

My opinions of Sayuri(love the name) aside, most of what took place under Masaru's roof was good stuff. In particular the sexual tension between Masaru and Yoshino. Anyone near puberty can likely infer what is being inferred by our two lead characters.

Another scene of note was the battle with our little insect friend. Discussing actual combat isn't something I enjoy, I find it far too shallow a subject to really analyze. Not to say I don't enjoy watching the battles, I simply don't enjoy writing about them. What peaked my preference in this scene was the look. I felt a certain appreciation for the crisp, dim azure capturing the sky. It was quite 'dark', but it provided the most appropriate ambiance for the scene. Mellow in a sense, suspenseful in another.

And what's even better than the look was the tidbit of story that got snuck into a battle. To quote our mystery fishman(who may I add is a nice touch in his own right), "So, you're fist of fury awakens your DigiSoul? You're getting more interesting by the minute." Indeed.

What else makes Masaru, or better yet the show as a whole, more interesting? Masaru is joining DATS after an empassioned plea to Satsuma made more for Agumon's sake than Masaru's. In addition to that we finally get a look at Tohma, the third in our trio of heroes.

I could delve into this episode in a million different ways. But as I approached I pledged I would focus only on the thing I wanted most: direction. And so I have done as I pledged.

Granted none of what happened in episode was ground breaking, all-revealing, or jaw-dropping. It didn't have to be, nor should it be. After two episodes we don't know exactly where this journey is taking us, that would only be boring. But we do have an idea of where we're going, that would only be necessary. Here's to hoping this ride only gets better as it goes.   


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[Editor's Note: As you can tell, the format has changed a bit from last week, we'll continue to tinker with it, but we want to know what you think so let us know. Also, the absence of an actual reviewer is obviously a problem, if you're interested in being a pundit on TAP, email me at mcfearson.mac@gmail.com with a sample of your writing.]

[User comments were used from the following forums:
http://withthewill.net
http://www.ryuxforums.net
http://forum.digimonhimitsu.com/ ]

Copyright © Mac McFearson 2006

Responses

Responses can be posted in this thread on the RXN forums.