In this episode, we hope the finale focuses on
wrapping up essential character arcs more than the exposition fest,
no matter how much one is needed. It’s also a good time to lay out
plans for reviewing the last two dub movies, Appmon, and everything
else going on outside of the site!
The success of Coexistence lives and dies on its
ability to both harvest seeds planted in early chapters and position
things for the big finale. The way it resolves some of the older
threads are brilliant: Taichi’s more resolute in supporting his
broader perspectives, while Yamato’s fear and later sympathy for
Taichi’s situation leads to an understanding that shapes his sudden
leadership. Of course, as far as how well it teed everything up for
the finale... well, that depends on the finale, now doesn’t it?
The positioning looks pretty good. You’ve got
the main team suffering a huge setback that the main cast can play
off of. You’ve got a massive threat in Ordinemon that will likely
require something deeper than sheer firepower to resolve,
particularly from two of the characters who need some attention.
You’ve got other threats that do need sheer firepower and
potentially a global response... the presence of which may have been
alluded to in Reunion. Then you’ve got Maki in the Dark Ocean and
Taichi and Daigo stuck heaven knows where, both prime locations to
run into some of the kids that went missing back in the opener.
Everything’s set up a certain way, but only if Our Future runs with
it does that element become successful.
At this point, there’s no way every minute plot
detail is going to be explained to everyone’s satisfaction. That
could take up all movie and all that exposition would drag the whole
thing down (not that Digimon doesn’t sometimes burn an episode for
the cause). Of course we expect a few answers, and which questions
its tackles and the quality of those answers will be part of the
final score. But tri. concerns itself less with plot particulars and
more with what the characters are going through and how their issues
relate to core themes. That’s where most of the points will be
gained or lost.
If we’re to judge Our Future on anything, it’s
how well the most crucial character arcs are resolved. Hikari flew
under the radar for 4.75 movies until her primary crisis blew up in
everyone’s face. How she resolves this is going to be a vital
component of tri., as well as a long overdue chance to see some
meaningful growth from her. Yamato snuck up on us and turned what
looked to be a pointless conflict with Taichi into a deep look at how
one’s lack confidence can mess up the other. Now we’ll see if
Yamato can lead effectively trying to follow Taichi’s cues while
not always understanding them. Meiko’s had some moments of
encouraging strength and catastrophic setback, and all of the time
invested in her has to pay off with a decisive show of courage
validating her as a digidestined. Failing to do so would suddenly
cast doubt on why everyone else believed she was worth it. And Daigo
and Maki deserve closure on their alternate portrayals of
digidestined, whether or not they get the endings they want.
Since this is the only time I like talking about
site stuff, there’s a lot to go over, particularly as it concerns
our timeline. Normally tri. dub reviews happen as soon as I see them,
but Coexistence screens right in the middle of our breakdown of Our
Future. To keep things orderly, we’ll finish off Our Future before
posting the review of the Coexistence dub. Expect the post for the
dub of tri.’s finale right after it airs in September, with our
final tri. wrap-up a little later once all the discs are out, giving
us time to sit back and let them breathe for a while before rendering
final judgment. Appmon will follow (unless a dub airs before the
final tri. disc), but we’ll see where things are at before we make
any promises on that one.
And now for some further self-promotion in case
you somehow need more of this. After becoming a regular guest host
last year, I’m now the official co-host of the With the Will podcast, breaking down all the latest Digimon news and discussing
whatever subject is on our minds, with episodes every 2-4 weeks.
Check the archives for our interview with Jeff Nimoy! Audio of last
year’s massive Kitsune Kon panel with me and six Digimon voice
actors is available on my SoundCloud. This year I’ll host Digimon
panels at Anime Central in Chicago May 18-20 and again at Kitsune Kon
in Green Bay July 20-22 (I’m not expecting guests this time, but
it’s a possibility).
After finishing my mass interseason fanfiction
Neverworld last year, popular demand and a bunch of new characters to
play with has prompted a sequel! Look for a teaser for season two,
Nexusworld, next week as new goggleheads Tagiru, Daigo, and Haru are
pulled in and join the team. Our Amazon affiliate link is still up
and it’s still much appreciated when anyone does their shopping
through it. For a more direct way of sending some love, I now have a
Ko-Fi page, which makes it easy for you to make small donations to
help support the site.
Well, the music’s certainly appropriate. It’s
simultaneously sweet and full of pensive dread that fits this movie
to a tee. Even without fancy animation, the simple sight of the nine
digidestined fading to the nine partners is effective and carries the
sense of things getting darker before the big finish.
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