Former Morning Musume member, Mari Yaguchi designed a new Digimon called Panbachimon which will appear in 25th episode of Digimon Xros Wars on February 1! She also recorded the voice for the new character last January 19, the day before her birthday and is a big fan of the said anime and wanted to try becoming a voice actress.
The opportunity to work on Digimon began with Yaguchi's appearance on the Anime Seisaku Senyū Tour!! Digimon ga Dekiru Made program last October. Panbachimon's body has the top half of a panda and the bottom half of a bee. Its special moves include Bamboo Leaf Cutter and Poison Stinger, although Panbachimon does not use these moves in the said episode.
Since Nostalgia Trilogy was over almost a year ago, and since it is a trilogy, I decided to extend it with this new series! Not sure about how long will this series be, but if I find a show from back then worth talking about, I will talk about it. For its first serve, we will go to the Digital World with Digimon Adventure!
I first watched Digimon Adventure back in the early 2000, same case with Pokemon in which the TV station that aired it here in the Philippines likes to say that Pokemon will end and stop it for a couple of months and will say that Ash and Pikachu now has new adventures! Probably seeing the success of Pokemon, its rival station decided to air a show quite similar to Pokemon that is Digimon!
Since they want to directly rival Pokemon, as I mentioned in Nostalgia Trilogy, for me to watch both shows, what I did is to press the “Return” button once the other show is on commercial break! Fun, yes. In terms of understanding the plot, I still understand it. After reading an entry about Guinness World of Records, about Pokemon causing seizures in Japan, I decided to stop watching Pokemon and focus only on Digimon… thank God, my decision in focusing on Digimon is right! Pokemon will never end!
Digimon Adventure is about seven kids who just have their summer camp but on that day, their lives will change forever. They were transported into a different world in which they meet monsters known as Digimon, the seven kids meet and we they are: Taichi (The guy will goggles), Koshiro (The geek), Yamato (The bishie), Sora (Girl 1, loves birds), Mimi (Girl 2, loves malling and has a Digimon partner who is either a girl or a boy... that punches!), Takeru (The Kid) and Joe (That guy with glasses). Takeru and Yamato are siblings and Yamato and Taichi are having problems who will lead these kids.They are later added with Taichi's sister, Hikari (Kid 2).
For starters, I got into Digimon not because of the kids, but because of the monsters! Agumon and Gabumon became my instant favorite Digimons and the fact that they return back to normal once they evolve (or what my dub calls it, changes) into a stronger species, making them much more compact compared to Pokemon! Therefore, I officially was hooked with the show.
As the show progressed, one of the reasons why I got into the show is the fact that the monsters themselves grow up as characters along with their assigned partners. We saw how Taichi and Yamato fight because of their specific responsibility; saw how Takeru grew when we saw Patamon who just evolved into Angemon who just died protecting him, and was resurrected as a DigiEgg.
For a kid’s show, those themes are something deep. Something that is rare for an anime aimed for kids. Aside from that, the first series has one of the best character developments that I saw in anime. I mean, if I will compare Satoshi (Ash) with Taichi, Satoshi barely has character development while Taichi has enough character development that lasted for a 54-episode series.
One of the best parts in the original series is when they “let go” of their specific partner Digimon, its emotional but it was partly ruined here in the Philippines when those executive bigwigs decided to air Zero Two before ending Adventure! I was like, what the heck?! What happened to Taichi and co. as they fight the boss to save Earth! But hey, seeing them how they looked like in Zero Two was fun anyway. Plus, seeing that Daisuke wears goggles, I am fine with it and since then, my mind is set that all leaders of the group is required to wear goggles… till Masaru came and ruined the tradition.
If there is an anime that I want to see on TV again, that would be Digimon Adventure. Seeing that a certain TV station likes to rerun Digimon, hope that someday, they would return Digimon Adventure on TV!
To those who are wondering what’s with the title, there is one English dub of Digimon Adventure that didn’t use the term, digivolve but changes. If you are living in the Philippines, I am sure you are familiar with this dub that aired opposite with Pokemon! In this episode, we are continued with the arc in Sand Zone and it seems that Baalmon will die.
The episode was good and at the same time bad. Why good? Aside from how they introduce Beelzebumon (Which up until now, I still don’t get it on why they decide calling him that since Beelzebub is a name of a demon and Baal is a name of a false god as warriors of light), it is one of the rare instances that all Digimons are out from the X Loader!
Baalmon’s resurrection as Beelzebumon was awesome. Aside that after learning that there is more than to power; he wears the goddess’s mask, and protects Shoutmon X4K, then after that before dying, he SHOOTS Mugendramon’s cannons! Epic, yes. Awesome, absolutely!
When Baalmon transforms into Beelzebumon, it felt heavenly in a sense with the number of feathers that appeared. While it is happening, the first song for Digivolution from Digimon Adventure started playing in my head. Aside from that, his introduction as Beelzebumon is good. So good, that his pose while shooting someone looks good!
Taiki here is just the same Taiki we know, nothing much. But this episode has something interesting for Shoutmon. This is one rare instance that Shoutmon questioned his General. Why he should save Baalmon since he is their enemy? Yes, why save a guy who kills his comrades who are mind controlled instead of trying to find a way on removing the control out of their minds.
Aside from that, this is where Baalmon finally makes his final development as a character. Like I have stated earlier that he realized that there is more than to power, we saw that he doesn’t want Taiki to end up like him. Someone who lost his friends because he can’t do anything to save them.
All Digimons out from the Digivice fighting alongside with everyone was one of the best things in this episode! Too bad, Bastemon is still one useless princess even if she participated a little in the fight. Seriously, when we will see this sleepy princess fight properly, or better yet, DigiXros her with some Digimon to give her some use!
Why bad? Because Beelzebumon had minor exposure and Shoutmon X4K has more screen time! I mean, this episode highlights Beelzebumon’s first appearance with a strong pre-introduction to begin with! I know, Shoutmon X4K is the strongest around, but why not let him do the earlier blows and let Beelzebumon do the finisher? That would make a good impact to viewers!
Overall, the episode was fun to watch especially when all Taiki’s Digimons fight against the Bugra Army and when Baalmon is doing one of his finest moments in this series that leads us to him, resurrecting into Beelzebumon. Why resurrection? Digivolution is not an appropriate term considering that if it is Digivolution, Beelzebumon would revert into Baalmon
