The deliberate pace of the series in
the early going may have some fascinating stuff in it, but it takes
longer to gain proper forward momentum. We're not quite there yet,
but clearly all of the cogs are now turning and ready to take off
real soon. This episode establishes the framework of Rika and
Renamon's relationship, Impmon's troubled past and Yamaki acting like
a bad, bad man. All of these transition nicely into the next phase of
the series.
Rika and Renamon are the primary focus
of the episode and their stubborn little kabuki dance is a nice
illustration of how complicated the two can be. This is the first
time we've seen a serious row between partners since TK and Tokomon
in Adventure, and that was fueled by a lie. There's no such influence
blocking things here. Both Rika and Renamon have shown clear concern
for the other, but aren't convinced that this partnership thing is
right for them.
For Rika, her frustration over the
complexities of Digimon taming has her calling it quits, all the
while secretly hoping to get swept back into the fold. She's even
tolerating Calumon because he's the only one putting an effort into
that. What she really wants is for Renamon to show up and excite her
again, reminding her why she liked this whole business in the first
place. Yet Renamon is nowhere to be found, frustrating her all over
again.
Renamon, meanwhile, is coming to terms
with the fact that she can get stronger without Rika. She dispatches
a trio of Flybeemon on her own and later seeks council from Impmon,
who has been championing the act of going solo. We see a glimpse of
Impmon's history here, and his partners- a pair of toddlers who
fought over him until he got fed up with it and bolted. This personal
trauma has him guarded against everybody, even Renamon when she
actually treats him with respect and values his opinion.
Yet through all of her freelance
ass-kicking, Renamon realizes that there's no point in getting
stronger. In the end, it's just empty battles and more data to digest
for more empty battles. It's unfortunate that she reaches this
conclusion in the middle of a fight, allowing her opponent to gain
the upper hand in a suddenly raw battle. As Harpymon tries clawing
her way into Renamon's face, Rika, having left her cards at home,
rushes in with a stick in the back. It's not the first time a human
partner has interfered with a battle, but the impact and symbolism of
the moment makes it stand as the definitive example of a kid getting
physical for their Digimon. Harpymon turns on Rika, but Renamon
evolves to protect her partner just like they did in the old days.
Takato's making a new connection
himself, and a much stranger one at that. After Kazu and Kenta
flipped out and bolted when Takato tried introducing them to Guilmon,
his awkward conversation with them the next day sparks Jeri's
interest. Now she wants to meet him and against all common
sense Takato arranges this. That's how stupid she makes him... and he
wasn't exactly smart to begin with. Yet the reaction is not at all
what Takato expected when Jeri thinks Guilmon is the cutest thing
ever. He hates having his fearsome monster dismissed as cute but he
goes with it as Guilmon seems to enjoy the attention and he's scoring
some serious points with her.
Yamaki also shows up to deliver vague
threats, both in soliloquy and directly to Takato and Henry. He's in
clear villain mode right and one day he might even do something to
prove it.
My Grade: A-
Loose Data:
- We had only seen minimal interaction between Terriermon and Calumon, but they're suddenly great buddies and Terriermon's dying to teach him tai chi. Sadly, Calumon doesn't quite have the skeletal structure for that.
- There's something really fun in the way Renamon stalks Impmon, sort of a role-reversal as he's the one getting pissed off that someone's on his tail. The walking shots are just silly and awesome.
- You know they're working too hard to sell Yamaki as menacing when there's a meaningless shot of him standing in front of the Matsuki bakery. He's pretty damn menacing as it is; they don't need to push it.
- Rika's grandmother is starting to establish herself as the wise matriarch of the family, but with Rika in no mood to listen, she doesn't get very far. It'll get better, Seiko.
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