One-Punch Man episode 8 (and my thoughts on Digimon Adventure tri)

Warning, minor spoilers

How was the new episode? Decent enough, nothing too spectacular to be honest. When I was watching this episode, my attention wavered once in a while. While the action was tense with an actual threatening opponent for a change, I kept skipping ahead rather than watch it all in one go. Then again, I have seen all this in the Murata manga version so I was already expecting most of the events of this episode (the main reason why I occasionally skip watching Gintama and Shokugeki no Soma - I have already seen it in the original source material). Still, this does not mean the action was not good in this episode; in fact, it was tense with excitement with multiple combatants facing off against the most powerful opponent seen so far, Sea King (no relation to the goldfish). Sea King proves to be a difficult combatant for the heroes present which adds actual suspense to the fights (until our caped baldy shows up). Pri-Pri-Prisoner is another character introduced in the episode and from what I recall from watching this thirteen hours ago, his portrayal here matches his appearance in the manga, right down to the flamboyance and absolute lack of care for his audience. LICENSELESS RIDER (or Mumen Rider) also makes his way to Sea King and this episode begins to highlight more of his heroic traits. As seen by his determination to reach Sea King, Rider only seeks to do what is right and just for all around him even if he is powerless to defeat the threats. Even as heroes of various ranks flee or ignore the threat of Sea King, Rider, along with Saitama and Genos, still make their way to this grave threat to the citizens of the city. Perhaps new viewers will see why readers of the manga praise the Rider so much in this episode though I believe the next episode will probably showcase this better (if done right). One part of this episode I must praise is a well-adapted moment from the manga into the anime. This part occurs at the end when Saitama answers Licenseless Rider's discarded phone and the people on the other line attempt to warn Rider of Sea King's level of power, not realising that Saitama is on the other line. As Saitama hangs up, his expression drastically changes from his basic appearance to a well detailed expression of determined resolution, as pictured below.

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/onepunchman/images/8/86/Saitama_seriousness.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/276?cb=20141206003321&format=webp

The anime successfully captures the weight and gravity behind this particular expression and moment which I heartily approve of. As a result, I left the episode with satisfaction of watching a decent adaptation. If I were to point out any flaws of this episode, it would be this: there is no real outstanding moments in the episode that may convince people that the show is good. Aside from well-adapted moments, the episode does not have outstanding moments that will leave viewers on the edge of their seat nor have comedy that will leave them with a smile. It is a basic episode at it's worst and at it's best, it is a decent episode with moments that are well-adapted from the source material (one source material at least). 

In short, I still recommend this for regular viewers while leaving a cautioned recommendation for newcomers. The episode is decent enough to continue following the show and to see how the Sea King arc will be resolved.  

Now, Digimon Adventure tri. I will admit that I was excited to watch this since I watched the original Adventure series when I was younger and enjoyed it for being a basic adventure show with complex and deep themes at times. So, how does the first movie, Saikai (or Reunion) fare?

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/digimon/images/2/2e/Digimon_Adventure_tri.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20141214021705

If I am going to be honest (and I will be honest), this movie was rather average at its best and bland at its worst. While I do appreciate the improved artwork (as the movies received a proper budget) and throwbacks to the previous instalments, the movie suffered from a number of flaws. These include: bad animation, excessive angst, the action being delayed, and too much nudging regarding characters ageing. 

The bad animation rears its ugly head during the first action sequence where Taichi (herein after referred to as Tai) is pursued by Kuwagamon. The movements in that sequence are particularly choppy and unnatural that an inattentive person like myself can notice this. The animation is not as bad as that first sequence but they are nothing special save for one sequence near the end that has appeared in some of the promotional materials. 

Another aspect that I found to be lacking is the excessive drama and angst added to indicate maturity of the characters. Throughout the movie, a recurring trait of Tai (bearer of the Crest of Courage) is his indecisiveness and sudden timidness that arise as a result of trauma of watching the carnage of a Digimon rampage and battle which is rather irksome as the movie went on. While this is understandable as a trait, the movie places too much focus on this new trait of Tai as his main feature and judging by the scenes in the opening, will put him at odds with Yamato (or Matt for English dub viewers) who winds up being the overly direct and decisive member of the group. It is like their character sheets got mixed up and my fear is that Tai's indecisiveness will become a recurring problem throughout the movie series and will lead to more excuses for drama that may test his resolve. I get that Tai is supposed to be mature and can consider the consequences now but when the other characters are able to overcome these doubts and Tai still retains some of these doubts by the end, it does seem like they might have over-compensated here. I hope to be proven wrong and that Tai becomes a mix of his younger self and the maturing teenager by the end.

Tied into this is another problem; the delay to the action. The Digimon only appear after twenty whole minutes into the movie and after that, there is a bare minimum of action with the Digimon. While they do appear as side characters in various scenes, most of these scenes tend to be based around their human partners who are too busy discussing their upcoming challenges and daily lives. While I am not opposed to delaying action for the sake of establishing background and setting, there should not be a long delay as well. There is a rather large gap between the first action sequence and the last action sequence in this movie. It does not help that the original Digimon series was able to balance the drama with action involving Digimon. Most of the drama here seems to be based around the tension from a romantic triangle between Tai, Yamato and Sora (that appears whenever all thee of them are together in the same area) along with a burgeoning romance between Koushiro (Izzy for the dub viewers) and Mimi along with Jo (Joe for the dub viewers) feeling the weight of oncoming exams. While they are now teenagers with more responsibilities and issues, it should not take up so much of the air time to showcase their reactions but instead balance by showing these strains in their teamwork in the action thereby highlighting that they have these problems that can be resolved gradually and with more character interactions in later instalments.

This may sound like nitpicking but stay with me, readers, this was an issue for me. Something I found rather odd is the amount of times characters in the show will blurt out lines or remarks aimed at highlighting the fact that the characters are now teenagers. There will be moments where the characters will suddenly weave into casual highschool dialogue after serious discussions which do happen in real life. What does not happen as often is these conversations being dropped seconds later such as a particular moment where Mimi suddenly teases Sora about her triangle with Tai and Yamato which fades into the background immediately after. For me, this seems to be attempts to remind the audience that these kids that we knew from the original series are grown up and do teenage activities now (kinda like All Grown Up but less cringe-worthy). Whether these will become more natural or remain out of place will depend on the next instalment's performance.

Despite these negatives, there are positive aspects to the show. One of these aspects is the nostalgia service in the form of the songs with Butterfly, Brave Heart and I Wish that appeared in the original. I can admit that hearing Butterfly again was a nice experience that faded away slowly as the movie progressed. Aside from that, the fact that the show even got a second sequel was already a nice feature that drew out the nostalgia in me. Seeing the Digimon (along with my favourite one, WarGreymon) once more was a treat and for the most part, they were fun though sadly lacked in appearance during battle.

The other good thing about the show was the big climatic battle near the end. I will not go into too much detail about it (except that it involved a major Digimon that appeared in the promotional material) but it was able to recapture some of the charm of the original while leaving the audience with anticipation of a future clash, as the fight ends with neither sides gaining an upper hand. 

Overall, I will give a cautioned mention of Digimon Adventure tri for now. It does not have enough content now to make it worth a cautioned recommendation and with the lack of events in the current movie, it may not even be entertaining enough.