Anime Superlative Originality,and George Lucas Style Throwbacks....
Digimon Savers
Year: 2006
Dub Voices of: Quinton Flynn,Coleen O'Shaughnessy,Crispin Freeman,Brianne Sidalle
Grade:A-
...Grace this season of Digimon.Starting with the latter,the characters harken very much back to the first three seasons. Between Marcus the slightly-more-fleshed-out Davis expy,Thomas the very nicely done Matt-Izzy hybrid, and Yoshi the subtle mix of Sora and believe it or not Jeri. And then you have episode bits that really harken back such as the fight between Thomas and Marcus which very nicely molds both the tension between Tai and Matt, and Takato's reaction to the predictable death of Leomon. Finally the last episode begins in a manner sadly much like the conclusion of the second season,but it ends much like Tamers did. And finally Agumon is thrown back in,but he acts like Guilmon.
And so at the same time,it is very original many of these throwbacks written as they are under different premises. For example the D-Reaper throwback was now relegated to a monster and without any punch-clock motives. No characters get left in the dust and end up all being really interesting. Marcus is always throwing punches,but there is a good reason,other than the obvious. The action is very nice. And it does indeed touch on very deep themes to such as
- What if dishonest humans exploited Digimon?
- Is world peace possible?
- Are humans bastards?
And that's only for starters,it also has one the greatest villains in all anime. Even more monstrous than Myotismon,which is no easy feat,and he is,.....Kurata. Ugly looking,hypocritical,genocidal,this is the villain that you can't help but love hating,there really hasn't been a more delicious character in the whole franchise. Great part of the originality
But the best part is that finally knowing that Leomon always dies,they deliberately had an unsympathetic one,but true to the course their was also a sacrificial one as well,and it managed to be even wrenching than the last.
It's doesn't deserve any of the hate it gets,even if it may seem unoriginal at times,it just works. Get off that Nostalgia Filter and give it a go.
Anime Not nearly as bad as everyone claims it is
This series is often called out for the sole fact that Marcus didn't wear goggles. Also, the fact that the animation was different. Those who claim it's a terrible series because of this obviously don't realize one simple thing: Digimon Adventure wasn't the first Digimon-related thing with humans, and Tai certainly wasn't the first hero. As a matter of fact, given the animation style, Marcus would've looked just plain ridiculous with goggles, let's admit it.
The story's good, and while the first few episodes are rather strange, they're still much more enjoyable than in Digimon Tamers, where the first few episodes were just plain boring. For one thing, just look at how HOTBLOODED it is. Marcus punches people in the face all the freaking time. Really, this season just breathes awesomeness.
Also, it was the first Digimon season that really had Nausea Fuel in it, at least for me. Specifically, the scene where Kurata comes out of... that... thing. You know, Belphemon.
Unlike Digimon Tamers, the characters are actually likable and it doesn't try oh-so-hard to be Darker And Edgier. As a matter of fact, I honestly believe this season was darker than the third season. As a matter of fact, if there is an eighth season and it's even darker than Digimon Tamers, then everyone will most likely ignore it, this wiki especially. Any dark Magical Girl series other than Madoka Magica gets the same treatment.
Like Digimon Frontier, it's way too underrated. Again, coming from the girl who obviously just hated Digimon Tamers and believes it's way too overrated, you'd think I wouldn't like this season, but I do.
Anime My Other Favorite
For a very long time, my favorite season of Digimon was Tamers. This is still the case, but it now has to share that spot with another: Digimon Savers. Basically, this show is pure entertainment.
- Masaru/Marcus has gotten a lot of praise, but let me assure you, it is completely deserved. I say this without exaggeration: Marcus is the most Bad Ass character ever conceived. Takato and Takuya became Digimon to fight their opponent. Marcus doesn't need that shit. Marcus punches Eldritch Abominations in the face and turns it into a speech about the nature of courage. And you want to know the most amazing thing, the thing that elevates him above Kamina? He has internal conflict and depth. He's a character!
- Then there's Touma/Thomas. His relationship with Marcus relationship is done perfectly. The two play off each other better than Tai and Matt did, not only acting as foils to each other in a way that compliments them both, but also each one helping to develop the other's characters.
- Ikuto/Keenan is executed almost as well as, but is very different from, Beelzemon from Tamers (I say almost because Beelzemon is practically a poem unto himself), in terms of transitioning from bad to good, them being two of the few characters in all of fiction who make this change believable. Keenan is basically the face of the idea that failure to communicate is the root of many problems. Also, unlike Ken or Kouichi, Keenan is still an interesting and developing character after joining the team.
Yoshino, the Digimon, and many side characters are also great, but I'm running out of room and I'd like to touch on some other stuff.
The first half of the series is about the mystery of the human-Digimon conflict, and it is adequately engrossing without having to genre shift. As a matter of fact, if you don't care about that stuff, it's still a very good Monster Of The Week show. There's a nice fight at least once per episode, but it's not the episode. There's a plot and characters and that's what matters.
In the second half, things take a turn for the awesome. It's just . . . awesome. Things blowing up and fights in the sky and punching God and genocide! IT'S AWESOME!
Oh yeah and we get the best villain in the entire franchise.
Anime Steam will come out of your ears
Digimon Savers is tied for second among my favorites of the Digimon series (with Adventure), and for good reason: it contains all the things that make me giddy inside.
Right out the gate, you see what kind of series this is going to be. The first episode naturally contains our hero, the extraordinarily Hot Blooded (he could give Kamina a run for his money) Daimon Masaru meeting his Digimon, an updated version of Agumon. How do the two meet? Punching each other in the face. And that's after Masaru takes down a whole gang of thugs. Eventually, Digital Accident Tactics Squad Officer Yoshino takes the two back to her boss, Captain Satsuma, and he eventually decides to join and help prevent further Digimon incidents in the real world.
The characters are much, much better than the cardboard cutouts Frontier contained. Masaru is very reminiscent of Domon Kashuu, and he's in a Mons show. Hilariously, he has to punch a foe to evolve his partner, Agumon, who complements him in this regard of course. By contrast, Blue Oni Touma is disproportionately stoic, though his obedient partner Gaomon has a bit more energy. The Chick is the sarcastic and relatable Yoshino, who has a Cloudcuckoolander of a partner in Raramon, and finally, there's the energetic Ikuto and his eager Falcomon, who we meet later on. Where this show really shines, however, is in its side cast. Satsuma may be my favorite character in Digimon, period. I also love how the side cast has a much larger emphasis on people related to the heroes rather than just random Digimon or humans, like the other Digimon series.
The show starts off fairly episodic (with a two parter here and there), picks up an arc around episode 11, and never looks back. The villains are all well done and thoroughly entertaining, though the last one is a bit odd. The animation style is crisp, clear, and dazzling, and the music's pretty nice as well. Props to Believer for being my favorite Evolution theme other than maybe EVO.
All in all, while Digimon Xros Wars perhaps better captured the aesthetic of the Super Robot Genre, Savers better captured the spirit. Being the highly dynamic and thoroughly awesome show that it is, it comes highly recommended.
Anime Worst Season of Digimon
A hefty judgement but I stand by it. Digimon Savers feels like the bastard child of Shonen Jump and the Digimon franchise. The series drains all of the magical wonder and character interaction to put a large focus fighting, training, and unlocking even more potential.
It's not that I hate shonen plots but the plot and characters feels so unoriginal, so lifeless that it feels like the creators are trying to mock the genre. The characters follow their roles almost fanatically with no flexibility . The series also seems to obsess over fighting with battles taking multiple episodes with only minimal scenes of dialogue between characters.
What suffers the most in this series are the characters. Masaru is the Frankenstein of stereotypical shonen traits. His characterization is hot-blooded delinquent that seems to be only capable of speaking in stock phrases. He often leaps at some giant monster to punch it which makes me wonder why the monster doesn't just eat him. He practically forces a rivalry onto Tohma, so that they can have some fake conflict in the story and ignores Yoshino to the point that she practically doesn't exist.
However, judging by the way Yoshino is portrayed, I can't blame him. Yoshino acts as if she is trying to win the Ms. Faux Action Girl of the Year Pagent. The writers of the show have to actually shoehorn an explanation as to why she is so weak. Her character development consists of "stop being useless" which is overcome with simply by willing herself to be better which makes me wonder why she didn't do it earlier. YMMV on how much it really works as she is still the weakest of the four and disappears from the story late into the plot.
Tohma plays the aloof rival personality with a weak subplot about the Littlest Cancer Patient to complete the trinity of shonen cliches. His superiority complex is broken by Masuru but one could just chalk it up to Masuru's plot invincibility and its not as if Tohma learns anything. Tohma is an aloof jerk even at the series end.
The Digi-Destined are supposed to be team but I feel like they would never trade words if they were not fighting monsters. They refer to each other as friends but show such disdain for each other, it lacks sincerity. While previous seasons had a family dynamic, this season was a slugfest of dysfunctional teenagers.