Zero Two Episode 50: A Million Points of Light

In this episode, for learning the valuable lesson that you don't need a Digimon partner to have a positive effect on society, everybody gets a Digimon partner!


Zero Two certainly has the most unique finale. There's no arguing that. For a season that goes all over the place, the ending reaches out to some distant galaxy, finds something completely out of the blue and just flies with it without a care. As far as anime endings go, it's not bad. Seriously, it's not. In fact, none of the seven seasons have bad endings. They aren't always great, but for the most part every season gets the ending it deserves. This, it could be argued, is the lone exception.

There have been three recurring themes this season, particularly over the last few episodes: the power of positive thinking is not to be overlooked, free will is not to be taken for granted, and sometimes it really sucks being a digidestined. The first one's obvious, but the last two are key. As each bad guy is exposed as a puppet of another, Ken struggles to release himself from his past and even the original eight digidestined are called upon to sacrifice their powers and/or accept different tasks, Davis, Yolei and Cody are the only characters with any semblance of free will. TK, Kari and Ken spend the entire season trying to take back their lives, going to some dark places in the process.

It's very appropriate, then, that MaloMyotismon draws strength from the pessimism of the helpless dark spore children, and Davis and the other digidestined realize that the battle hinges on them taking a different outlook. The children's negativity stems from them losing hope and confidence and the digidestined convince them that they have the ability to do whatever they want and follow their dreams no matter what they are. It doesn't matter that they aren't a digidestined as long as they have dreams... what a great message! Now all the kids watching at home can understand that they don't need to have a Digimon partner as long as they set goals and have the freedom to pursue them.

Except then all the dark spore children, after just being told that they can be perfectly happy without Digimon... get Digimon. This gives the collected digidestined the extra nudge of energy needed to defeat MaloMyotismon, yet completely undermines the entire point. Much as the kids seemed to accept that they could be happy without Digimon, they were sure thrilled when those digivices appeared in their hands! Ideally, the children would have been able to contribute to MaloMyotismon's destruction even without a digivice, emphasizing hopes and dreams rather than contradicting it with the prestige and responsibility that comes with being digidestined.

It's an inconsistent conclusion, but at least it delivers the big moments. The older digidestined, determined to join the battle, hike all the way back to the camp where everything started. Seeing everybody's families joining them for support was an appreciated nod, especially given the role family plays in the series. As little as the international digidestined did, their role in the finale was appropriate, and added the right amount of size and scope to the final battle.

Then there was Oikawa. After serving as a vessel for MaloMyotismon, his body's all done. It's appropriate that as everybody celebrates the victory, Cody's the one concerned about him, determined to make sure he gets into the Digital World before he dies. Oikawa doesn't quite make it but meets his long-awaited partner, which makes it all worth it. It's nice that, without words, the digidestined realized that Oikawa was just clinging to a dream the whole time, only to be corrupted in a moment of grief. Despite fussing as they did with BlackWargreymon, they are able to mourn his death this way. Still in the dream world, Oikawa wishes for his body to help restore the Digital World so it can be as perfect as he had always imagined. It's a beautiful final image, and a perfect final image to leave with.

If only it was...

My Grade: Incomplete

Loose Data:
  • Not to ruin things with logistics, but how exactly did the five older digidestined and everybody's families get up to the campsite? That had to have been a hell of a convoy. The answer, incidentally, is HIROAKI ISHIDA! I had to get one more in... it'll be a while before I can mancrush on Spencer Damon.
  • Izzy postulates that BlackWargreymon sealing the Highton View Terrace gate did more harm than good since it necessitated the massive road trip. All that and BlackWargreymon was inconsequential after all.
  • It was a mystery how the international partner Digimon reached their digidestined in the first place. Even bigger puzzle- when and how did they get back into the Digital World?
  • Davis admits that his biggest dream in life is to own a noodle cart. With aspirations like that, can you really be shocked that he's so content that MaloMyotismon's illusion didn't work on him?
  • Before you ridicule Davis for that, there are tons of other anime characters who dream of owning a restaurant, so it's not that crazy.
  • Despite all the love and good feelings going around, ultimately the final blow is delivered when all the positive energy manifests itself as a BIGASS GUN for Imperialdramon.
  • Did we really need Gennai to show up and explain the whole tail ring thing? Did we need Gennai to show up at all? His brief bout of moderate productivity around the World Tour arc does not change the fact that he was pretty damn useless through this whole run.
  • Oikawa's body turning into butterflies is not only a beautiful and symbolic send-off, it also evokes the season one opening song, where the singer wants to become a butterfly so he and his love can fly away from an unhappy world.
  • Before you leave unhappy comments about neglecting the epilogue, we're saving that for its own post. It needs its own post.

17 comments:

  1. "Seriously, it's not. In fact, none of the seven seasons have bad endings."

    I don't think I can agree with this. The only good thing about Hunters is that it was finally over.

    I really look forward Tamers and the rest of the wrap-up of 02. You do amazing work, keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hunters was flawed, but to say there was nothing good about it is ridiculously close-minded and ignorant of many of its better points. It had far and above some of the best music of any Digimon season, for starters.

      Delete
    2. "Many of its better points."

      *Proceeds to list only one.*

      Delete
  2. I love that the tidal wave visual thingy from episode one of Adventure gets reused when the gate opens for Tai, Matt, Sora, Izzy and Joe. It's a nice touch.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You know, I decided to rewatch A Million Points of Light because of you, and I have to say, I wanted Sora to smack whoever whined about not being a DigiDestined, whatever that girl's name was. Why? Because being a Digidestined is not all flowers and rainbows. They almost died multiple times. All their adventures weren't fun. Most of them were life threatening.

    If that girl had known all that and still wanted to be a Digidestined, then she could whine. And I agree, everybody shouldn't have gotten a Digivice. Digimon, I could understand, but after peace has come to both worlds, there was no need for more Digidestined.

    The Digidestined have a job to do, duties. Digivices shouldn't be given out like Oprah gives away cards. That's just my opinion though. Good finale and piece you wrote here.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This ending is horrible. Not only the fact that everyone now has a digimon does not make sense, since in season one they explained how the kids were chosen, but also having Daisuke, a new digidestined with not even half the experience of the old ones, being able to be invulnerable to MaloMyotismon's illusion meanwhile Takeru and Hikari are being possessed by fear and hopelessness is just wrong. I mean Takeru saw his digimon die, saw how Piedmon turn everyone into key-chains and still kept his ground and found some hope in him, when he was 8.

    It's just too much. Although I admit that this ending's not completely bad and has its moments, this moments are overshadowed by the bad writing of the whole thing. I mean you can see how bad the character development is when you see the dreams of each of the kids. Iori's and Ken's dreams are actually good, but god damn it Miyako's dream is eating by herself.

    PS: Compared with season one the digidestined in 02 were having a great time. In season one they spend months in a dangerous world filled with monsters willing to kill them, meanwhile in 02 they could go back and forth whenever they liked, spend a few hours on the digiworld and go back home to sleep in their comfy beds.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I completely agree. This series had so much potential, and did not deliver.

    First off, is there a place to write a blog here? I'm going to go off for a while...

    This season had too many story arcs that complicated it and did not allow for each arc to be completed, leaving fans disappointed. The first thing they should have done is finished the arcs from Adventure 1.

    Why would you make a movie that is not in continuity with the series? DUMB!

    My biggest rant has to do with T.K. and Kari. They did NOT develop these characters or answer questions at all. Kari's mysterious connection to the forces of 'light' began in Season 1 first when she connected with the mysterious being and took the digidestined on a story journey of the digital world, and then when she freed the numemon from Warumonzaemon's reign. Her power and role as a child of light is further addressed (and complicated) during "His Master's Voice." Since this story arc isn't developed, it leaves even more questions for fans. It is explained that her power and the crest of light are significant to the digital world by Azulongmon but that is it. No other information is provided. Instead of being a strong and grounded character among the newer digidestined, Kari seems to be one of the weakest characters, struggling with her past and never really overcoming everything.

    T.K. has it the worst. While he is the most seasoned digidestined, he by far gets the short end of everything. His character is probably one of the most underdeveloped despite having the most experience with digimon being active for 2 full seasons and having great character potential. T.K. tends to play the support role in the second season, which is fine, but no plot really develops for him. His only defining story is his struggle to prevent Patamon from dying again which makes him look more unstable than rounding him out as a full character. Also, he never experiences or shows the same powers that Kari does, despite having a role that is equal to hers in the digital world (hope gives light its power).

    Finally, the relationship between T.K. and Kari is never resolved, even though most fans would agree, they should be together. Their feelings are expressed in "His Master's Voice" as well as having many other instances of closeness and intimacy - not always romantic, but deep enough to provide the potential for romance. I think that this duo should have more power and publicity than Davis and Ken (who are more inexperienced and Ken is way unstable) with their history and powers of hope and light.

    With regards to Patamon and Gatomon, let's think about this for a moment:
    Who defeated Devimon, Myotismon and Piedmon (the 3 worst villains during their arc)? Angemon, Angewomon, and MagnaAngemon! Their powers are incredible, obviously stemming from their connection to hope and light. Yet they play a minor role in the second season. Yet, they are the only digimon to be able to digivolve normally AND armor digivolve. Also, their powers are heightened (Angemon can hold his own against most digimon - Myotismon, Piedmon, Cherubimon). Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon only appear once Matt and Tai are hit with arrows of HOPE and LIGHT (meaning they got that power from T.K. and Kari's crests). And finally, these two are the only two to show the capability of digivolving to their mega forms naturally (as seen in the movie). Their mega forms also host the power of the golden digieggs. So why could they not defeat Cherubimon? Because whoever wrote the story is a moron! So much potential and power wasted for more shallow storylines and digimon characters (cough cough Davis).

    Moral of the story: the creaters did not deliver for the second season. So much potential, so much disappointment.

    What do you guys think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're completely right. T.K and Kari barely have any character development. Being the most experience of the group I think they should have had a bigger role and not only be a kind of guide to the rest.

      The fact is that the season just focuses on Davis and Ken's relationship and leaves the rest behind. I think it would've been a different season if T.K and Davis have had a real friendship and not that weird thing they had.

      If I could describe this season in one word it would be disappointing, without a doubt. The season is full of plot holes and things that just don't add up, without mentioning that I just can't get along with 3/4 of the new digidestined. Davis is maybe the most obnoxious character of the whole season or even franchise, Yolei is shallow and irritating and Cody is just boring. I must say though that Ken's development is the most well-rounded of all. Ken's back-story is very well presented and gives a sort of depth to his character. Oikawa the same, the two villains show to be the most compelling part of the season.

      Final thoughts? This is an all-in-all badly developed season. It could've been great but various mistakes were made in terms of plot and character development.

      Delete
    2. I agree with you there was a lot of potential with TK and Kari to work with this season and they have been undervalued and underdeveloped
      also statements have been given out (in addtion to Azulongmon's statement) that TK and Kari are equels in terms of power and I would go so far to say that TK was probably the most powerful digidestined in seson one and significantly Kari is the only girl in all seasons to have a digimon go to mega
      also theopen endedness of their relationship was annoying they even released songs like Refelection and Focus (in which TK and Kari sing about their feelings for each other) after season 2 and there was the fenalie poster
      so they should have just confirmed the relationship
      yep TK and Kari should have had more focus and stature in 2

      Delete
    3. A little more overt romantic tension would have definitely helped with their characters, although if they were going to confirm their relationship, they should have done it within the main context of the story rather than announcing it at the end the way they did with Ken and Yolei. Working off the dub, I stand by the assertion that TK may have had a thing for Kari, but she saw him as more of a brother. Both Focus and Reflection seem to suggest this, at least in the translations I read (although that Digimon Girls Festival album that Reflection comes from has some pretty sketchy characterization all around).

      And Rika and Yoshi might take issue with saying Kari's the only girl to have a Digimon go mega. ;)

      Delete
  6. To file under multi-dimensional conspiracy theories, I wonder if the dark spore girl who wanted to open a bakery is Takato's mom?

    ReplyDelete
  7. I watched JesuOtaku's take on the ending at thatguywiththeglasses.com, and I do appreciate that MaloMyotismon being defeated by the optimistic reaffirmations of the dark spore kids makes more sense to me now than it did before, given that they're effectively his life-support machine.

    I still say the scene looked pretty darn stupid, though. Seriously, how did the writers keep a straight face when they wrote down that the biggest, baddest giant monster of two seasons get blasted to bits by kids talking happily. That's a pretty undignified way to go for one of the series' most badass villains, even if the last time he was defeated involved a crotch attack.

    ReplyDelete
  8. and he would have succeeded too, had he not foolishly raised his arms in a Gokuesque manner during battle, before finishing them off, at least Devimon was "far too wise to play silly games" with them at the battle for File Island he went for the kill as soon as he had TK and Patamon isolated. Machinedramon also took his shot when he blew up the building the og team ran into, but Malomyotismon whos had 3-4 years to remember the simple rule of shut up and shoot them already decides, A its ok to blab on how this dimension works and B initiate his attack on Earth (with both hands busy) while the people who are in the same world as him, who by prophecy/definition are destined to beat him have a team huddle on how to use his own dimension against him. At least Lord Bakemon didn't count on the kids realizing his power was in the chants. I can see why Malomyotismon can be taken out by the dozen in that Xros crossover, great show questionable ending

    ReplyDelete
  9. Vamdemon's end in this season is the most stupidest Villain's death I've ever seen.
    3 Jogress evolution couldn't even itch him and then some random kids who aren't even chosen children manged to finish him off by just talking about their futures!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What If: Yukio Oikwawa Didn't Sacrifice Himself In The Season 2 Finale?

    ReplyDelete
  12. There's a lot of things I want to comment on this episode. Like I'd forgotten all about Gatomon's tail ring after that one episode where they actually tried to look for it. Honestly I thought she would find it and get that power boost. But I guess they had to nerf her for some reason. Either way I was kinda annoyed when Gennai came out of the blue to say 'here you go'
    I was moved by the beams of light the digidestined from from all over the world shining light to help in their own way. But what really bothered me was the dark spires kids.

    As a kid I watched digimon and Pokémon side by side but there's a reason why I think I stopped after Tamers but I kept watching Pokémon. Yeah the other seasons follow different kids and Pokémon focuses on Ash. But like I felt like anyone can be a Pokémon trainer you just needed a Pokémon friend , some poke balls, and a desire to travel and you're on your way. In fact it was almost like some right of passsge to go on a journey with Pokémon. The digimon franchise (at least w/the first 3 I couldn't get into it Frontier. Maybe I'll try again) made it feel you had to be special, you had to have some special quality to be selected to be a digidestined. And the bit with the spore kids reminded me of that. They had a whole moment being told they have strength in their hopes and dreams, they didn't need digimon to be strong or happy or any of that. Just for that all to be wiped clean when they got a digivice. Like what was the point? I think that moment had a powerful message to the viewers at home (cause obs this isn't real so we're all ordinary kids just like the spore kids) only to feel like ' you don't need a digimon, but you kinda do' like the the actual heck? I'm 27, and it just bothered me to no end after being so moved and emotional moments before.

    ReplyDelete