Digimon Adventure:

Episode 21

I do have to admit, I had some fun with this one. Digimon Adventure: is just kind of cruising along right now, and I can't glean any implications of how far or deep they've planned what they're doing here. But at least interesting occurrences are still happening, they're actually remembering to keep all the characters in play somehow, and the production hasn't melted down again. I don't mean to damn with faint praise, this is the kind of solid effort I come into the show expecting. If it's got to be an overall rollercoaster of expectation-shaking highs and lows, at least I can confirm it as still enjoyable when it's just being a solidly fun little cartoon.

The issue with character work, or lack thereof, for Taichi and Yamato in the Digital World persists, and at this point it's obvious that the breakneck pace of their story is the key culprit there. The show's current fixation with dropping seemingly-random new enemies culled from different Digimon seasons onto them leads to this frustrating rinse-repeat cycle as they chase their current goal. Previous monster-of-the-week iterations could have different situations to solve or new characters to interact with, but Taichi and Yamato here just find themselves needing to plow through whatever big new beastie happens to be standing in their way. And that leaves no time for discussion or exploration of how they feel in this current situation. Takeru, being a new addition to the unit, actually tries to engage with Yamato early in this episode, only to get shut down by his big brother in the moment, assuring us they'll save the much-needed codifying of their relationship for later.

The irony is that this is clearly the show's conscious choice for allocating its story and character work, since the bits back in the Real World show it knows exactly how to handle moments with characters when it gives itself the chance. After being functionally absent for weeks, we get to see Joe and Mimi again, providing an interesting glimpse at how kids who disappear for days on end for a world-saving adventure might handle having to abruptly return home and engage with their parents over it. It gives us a neat look at the family lives of these characters, and uses that for little explorations of the character development they've undergone through the story so far. It's heartening to see that Mimi, once she gets the respite of a rest and meal she was previously so desperate for, is all too eager to get back to her known responsibility as part of the Digital Defense Squad. Joe, meanwhile, makes us aware of some divides between the people in his home life that could pave the way for an even more distinct break in his own personal choices. These parts only last a couple of minutes, but compared to the simplistic fetch-quest battles Taichi and Yamato are currently gritting their teeth through, they work wonders in making me interested in how the other kids could contribute and develop if the series would just let them as it goes on.

A path to such re-inclusion is opened up in this one, thankfully. Koshiro pushes a firmware update to the Digivices that lets the kids communicate with and support their Digimon across the worlds, and they set up the monster-pal B-team as the ones to take on the cyber-attacks that are still befalling various worldwide infrastructures. The boat-crash they're trying to avert here doesn't get a ton of time in the spotlight, mostly establishing it to presumably be dealt with next week, and the setup does mean Koshiro and Sora's contribution amounts to a lot of the same frame of them staring at a laptop screen. But still, it's something a bit different from the traditional Digimon Adventure: setup, and makes it very clear that the show has no intention of totally sidelining the homebound members of the Chosen Ones.

With all that going on, it means that even without any engaging character work of their own, Taichi and Yamato can provide the contractually-obligated weekly big fight. It's a pretty cool knock-down drag-out affair with a gnarly critter named Splashmon ported over from Xros Wars (Adventure: has never exactly skimped on guest appearances and cameos, but between this guy and Calamaramon from Frontier turning up this episode, it really feels like they've been hitting the random button on the Digimon wiki hard recently). A lot of the attacks Splashmon hits MetalGreymon and WereGarurumon with have a visceral viciousness to them, and while I never expected our too-strong twosome to actually lose, they still sold how tough this fight was. It means the big turnaround at the end actually comes off like a major moment, and even if the inciting element is just Taichi showing off how darn courageous he is again, it feels much more intense and desperate than it did back in the debut MetalGreymon evolution, so this next upgrade feels more ‘earned’ than that. Of course, it could also be that said upgrade, MetalGreymon's ‘Alteros Mode’, is actually a new kind of power-up for the character (in fact pulled from semi-obscure alternate form for the evolution), and I am but a child at heart who is easily wowed by a shiny new thing. But then I could hardly complain about Digimon Adventure: injecting itself with some fresh cool factor.

That same sense of simply trying to wow us is present in Takeru's part to play this episode. Unable to communicate his connection with his brother, they're still keeping the kid's role pointedly simplistic; he's barely even said anything. But absent his Digimon partner and anything to do in the fight, we get a look at how he could be the one to contribute the empathy from the team as the other members aren't around. There's a definite quiet awe to the scenes of him discovering and releasing the massive form of Eldoradimon, which are bolstered by the soundtrack, Digimon Adventure:'s consistently strongest resource. The show's utilized a couple of massive mobile-base Digimon already, and I have to wonder if they were repeating that concept to prime us for this colossal reveal. Everything in the episode leading up to it is structured simply, but it works because they actually know how to make that simplicity cool.

There were a fair amount of moving parts to the story to digest this week, but I still felt this episode's pointed simplicity made it work. It's a definite case of ‘less is more’ that I think Digimon Adventure: would do well to embrace as it continues to figure out where it's going next. Just let us have some cool fights and engaging little character moments. If they could actually tie those elements together to do something with Taichi and Yamato alongside all the battling they've been tasked with doing, it could turn out even better.

Rating:

Digimon Adventure: is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.