Digimon Adventure:

Episode 22

You gotta be impressed with Digimon Adventure:'s new version of Takeru. Last week the kid was free-climbing down a sheer cliff face into a pit filled with dark energy, and now this episode sees him leaping between cubes floating precariously over a hole filled with even more of that mean miasma. The kid's fearless, and I like his moxy, especially as, still absent his Digimon partner, Takeru himself has made quite a few contributions already to the successes of the Taichi/Yamato action team. It kind of leads to an odd symbiotic relationship, where Takeru jumps headfirst into some horrendously dangerous situation to help however he can in the current struggle, which motivates the older kids and their Digimon to rush in to protect him, which in turn emboldens Takeru to continue his efforts. This episode especially has him feel like the MVP as far as keeping the central battle moving and evolving.

As a reward for his continued contributions, Takeru is actually allowed to talk in this episode! He's been near-monosyllabic in all his appearances so far, so hearing him speak at length in full sentences is actually a bit jarring – I hadn't even gotten a read on his new seiyuu until now! Hilariously the informational element of his hallway exchange with the others amounts to him not having any more clue as to how he arrived in the Digital World than they or we do, but spelling out his motivations regardless is a nice consolation. He indeed speaks to that symbiotic effect I just mentioned, that seeing Taichi and Yamato fight to protect him made him want to join the fight himself. We still haven't gotten to tackle the brothers' relationship too densely yet, but Yamato's reaction seems to indicate that he understands Takeru's feelings on this, so we'll see if the show does anything with that connection moving forward.

These nods characterizing a kid who joined the cast weeks ago are still an embarrassment of riches by the standards of Digimon Adventure:'s level of development, so I'll take them amongst the otherwise fight-based advancement continued this week. The most frustrating slice of that continues to be the haplessly-deployed B-team back in the Real World. Absent those nice moments we got with Joe and Mimi and their families last week, this installment instead sees fit to delay them from joining the battle to block the boat brigade in some of the most absurdly mundane ways possible: Mimi's Uber gets stuck in traffic and Joe is thwarted by a crowded elevator. It almost hilariously undercuts the tension of the situation they're trying to assist in, outdone only by the fact that once all four home-bound kids are together, it seemingly takes just a couple of glossed-over evolutions and a single shot from each of them to knock out Calamaramon. I want to appreciate that Digimon Adventure: hasn't completely forgotten about this portion of the team, but their inclusions so far have really felt token at best, and I almost wish they'd saved this fight for its own dedicated episode, rather than dropping it in like so many tiny bread crumbs.

As tiring as over-focusing on the Taichi/Yamato/Takeru triad could get, their action is easily carrying this episode. Yes, they're still chasing the fetch-quest goal of Angemon's Digitama, and once again brute-force their way through a bigger enemy that they just ran into, but the show has a solid handle on portraying these otherwise repetitive beats with some flair. Some of SkullKnightmon's movements in particular have some nicely weighty, deliberate feel to them, though some subsequent animations look a bit more janky. Despite being the next-level Boss fight here, this battle never feels quite as desperate as the one last week. That might be down to the secondary element of Takeru charging in and pursuing the Digitama; I think we're supposed to be concerned the tiny child is in this kind of peril, but we've so far been wowed by the kid's fearless tenacity that we're simply cheering for him being the one to get things done. He yells directly at DarkKnightmon to get out of the way, demonstrating that he's as much the embodiment of courage as Taichi has been.

The lesser amount of desperation in the fighting, as well as the fact that it is now gettting predictable, means the setup for the new power-up this episode does feel a bit more perfunctory. They make up for it a bit in a way I really like: bringing Gabumon in to contribute to his own personal and literal growth, declaring his intent to protect Takeru in lieu of his own absent partner. I always appreciate when a Digimon series makes an effort to foster relationships between humans and Digimon who aren't their destined sidekick; it makes everyone feel just a bit more real, and results in a more effective connection that leads to WereGarurumon's upgrade instead of a do-over of Taichi's raw determination. Fitting, given that the Garurumon evolutions are nominally powered by Friendship anyway.

WereGarurumon's Sagittarius Mode update is itself a bit surprising in how it doles out its presentation. At first it's visually low-key – even a little disappointing – but then the mecha-wings spread and we see what this thing can do, and it's mightily impressive. It's another nicely thematic spin on the motivation behind the upgrade, that Sagittarius Mode primarily kicks in to allow WereGarurumon to rescue and protect Takeru and Yamato; granted it does turn out to have weapon utility as well, with those rad energy blades he deploys. So far these new upgrades are two-for-two on feeling way more earned and resonant than those troublesome Ultimate Evolutions, and I really hope characters besides Taichi and Yamato's Digimon have them in the pipeline. Regardless, I'm happy to enjoy this latest stronger stretch of Digimon Adventure: for as long as it lasts.

Rating:

Digimon Adventure: is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.