Tag: Tokyo

Digimon Adventure Episode 18: The Battle in Tokyo Against Orochimon

Hello Little Lights, while I am trying to recover from my health issues I decided to start getting back into blogging slowly by tackling some easy to handle content! It is time to continue picking up those anime I was watching again! That way when I am forced to stay in bed, I  can at least get something done!  So yay!  We start with picking up Digimon again. Since becoming a VBlogger though, this will be more of a reaction blog to the episode than an actual review!

The First Act

I chose a bad time to burn out on watching anime as episode 16 is a direct continuation of episode 15, the enemy at the end  evolved  into Orochimon, from eyesmon! Luckily I am quite aware of the “digidex” and which Digimon evolves into what.. and how! So I did not feel lost! It would be kind of bad if I got lost in a kid show anyway I guess!  Anyway in the last episode the chosen kids fought Eyesmon in the fake Tokyo and after defeating it , the creature evolved. They had discovered that Eyesmon was responsible for the Tokyo blackouts  and this week we kind of see why?!

Orochimon has the power of EMP roars, which is treated as something way more serious than it should be… I loved how Digimon up until this point was very cleverly written and once again this power up does connect to everything going on in a very thematic way, but just like the last episode it feels a bit cheaper than before. It fits but it’s less earned. Kochiro’s laptop only flickers a bit while in the real Tokyo suddenly all sorts of light bulbs begin to burst as it is stated that the EMP roar affects the real Tokyo in the same way. Then why did Koshiro’s laptop not go poof?! The eight heads of Orochimon over-power the chosen ones and it is time to flee. Yamato however wants to solve this now, for a reason that has yet to be revealed as I react to it! If I were to guess I would say this is where Takeru and maybe Kairi come in…after all the group is with 6 right now… perhaps they need… 8?!

The first act ends with the party becoming separated again. Yamato and Taichi end up alone  due to the recklessness of Yamato. Orichimon does some shenanigans with water that destroy his “dimension”   Since they are in his dimension now, that is located more closely to the real world time flows differently here than in the rest of the digital world or something as is explained by Koshiro who works like a fine exposition tool, when the other four are discussing their lost battle and try to come up with a strategy. It is nice to see the four non leaders together and them dealing with problems that come with that. Without Yamato and Taichi we see the group depicted as slightly more fearful and less motivated, as a group should be without their leaders. Morale has dropped!  So the episode handles that pretty well! 

The Second Act

We begin the second act with a super lame visual of Taichi, Yamato and their Digimon sitting in some sort of underground location that looks quite similar to the location where the others were.  However the details of this picture are laughingly sparse. I get that it is hard to draw in details from a distance, but if that would be the problem I would not have chosen this shot! It lingers for a fair few seconds as wel so it kind of killed the gravity of the situation for me! It just looks a bit to yankee for me and I let out a chuckle rather than being concerned for their welfare. It is followed by a rather cool visual of Orochimon’s heads creeping past the location searching for them. I like how the sky is coloured white.. like empty digital space rather than some gloomy cloud that reflects their emotional situation. Normally in nearly every scenario.. in a situation like this the sky would be ashen  to reflect the despair .. but here the rules of the digital world stay in place and it doesn’t just start to rain to enhance emotions. So we are looking into a pretty somewhat strange sky!  It helps sell the alien world thing a bit more!  Something this show does quite a bit better than the original!

We then get a lot of focus on Hikari and Takeru, which makes me believe we may say two new chosen ones soon!  Hikari even sees an actual digimon! The mother of the family makes a very VERY strange decision though.  Because her car is glitching out a bit and stuck in traffic  she decides to abandon it and take the train back home?! What?!  Are you even allowed to abandon your car in the middle of the road like that?! And obviously people will stampede towards the train station.. so why would you let your daughter exit the car in a dangerous situation like this. Stuff just exploded not too long ago! Not so great parenting there! Of course Hikari gets trampled and separated from her mother. Also why is Takeru being left home alone during a black-out!  These parents are not very good! 

The second act concludes with a great team bonding moment from the chosen ones! The leaderless group says what they appreciate from their Digimon and tell each other stories on how they have grown and how they should not be scared.. because they have come a long way since coming to this world. We see Joe take on his Faux Leader persona and how it cheers the others up!  It is very wholesome to see and it makes sense! He wants  to be the Senpai and now he can when everyone is at a low!  We also see the strength of Sora and how proud she is of Biyomon, we see how Koshiro thinks his digimon is the coolest and we see Mimi tease Palmon that she is only the prettiest Digimon when she evolves. I loved these moments! It is followed by a strong moment of bonding  between Taichi and Yamato as well. Where the rest of the group kind of at times tried to slow down Yamato for reason, Taichi understands that sometimes you just have to step up, so when Yamato wants to fight to save his brother, even with chances not in their favour Taichi not only lets him he joins him!.

The Third Act

The third act and thus the climax of this episode is the battle against Orochimon! It quickly becomes clear that Takeru and Hikari won’t join the squad in this episode. However, I am beginning to see more and more similarities to the first episode. We have an enemy that evolves several times, a fight between a superior force in a realm that is somewhere between the digital world and our one.. and Yamato and Taichi who are the big focus. The rest does show up just a little into the fight.. but they accept that in this fight they are the support. It’s left up to their two leaders, which I think is a fitting end for the “Tokyo Blackout Arc”.  I suspect however that this fight will not conclude it.. something will happen here that brings back Takeru and Hikari to the digital world before it is over. I am sure of it!

The fight itself is quite nice as well, after a few failed attempts from Yamato and Taichi to do it alone, they do realise they need the group! Yet at the same time that group also realises they lack the sheer offensive dominance the other two have.. so rather than just fighting along, they distract the metal heads of Orochimon that it uses for defence.. Zudomon also shows some defensive skills, spinning his hammer around like Thor!  Kind of cool and nice to see everyone take slightly different roles in this fight.  Energy attacks do not seem to work on the snake’s water blasts so MetalGreymon and AtlurKabuterimon take a Melee approach that seems to work.  Sometimes a weaker attack is better than just the main attack! The classic show fell into that trap where everyone basically ended up spamming one attack! So these fights feel much more alive.

The fight is concluded by MetalGreymon… but hey Taichi has the goggles and it’s a digimon rule. Everyone got a moment again and even with Takeru and Hikari getting scenes here and there, it never feels too thin spread. Everyone is there and has personality, the music, the digivolutions , it all synergises once again and the battle ends on a high note!  We know have seen how a single Ultimate Digimon can still be on par with 6, so even Devimon being just a Champion for now seems possible..because unlike the old series there seems to be another force behind this all. Like how we have seen Omnimon in the first three episodes.. something is pushing them to this level.. and now yet again.. even after killing the Digimon, something changes. A new countdown shows up..towards the destruction of Tokyo.. just like in the first three episodes, and I am excited! I know I am watching this late..and not maybe not that many are into this series to begin with.. but I had fun again! I just needed to recharge my battery a bit!

For those who do not use Twitter, I have been currently having a lot of health issues that is completing consuming my energy pool or making me forced to stay in bed. As this is going on I can’t reliably put out blogging content, though I am slowly trying to get back in the swing of things. However since I have been quite unstable I can’t really tell you guys when I will be back full force! My apologies! I’m trying to recover as fast as I can! For now.. time for a bit more rest!
Shine on Little Lights! Oyasumi!

Animini: Digimon Adventure – Episode 16 – The Jet-Black Shadow Invades Tokyo

Greetings my sweet Island Guests, the animini cocktail shot we will serve you today is two parts delusion, a dash of Groundhog day with a healthy splash of epic reunions. A strong episode of a strong series so far, yet the taste is a bit washed out by using some tropes a bit too much! Luckily the Dr Strange like action made up for a lot. 

The Summary

At the end of the last episode we saw Taichi’s group traverse a tunnel and end up in what seemed to be Tokyo and that is where this episode picks up.  The kids are back in Tokyo but things seem strange, there doesn’t seem to be any mention of the blackout and the kids cell phone will not connect. Excited however to be in the real world again the kids decide to visit their homes for a bit. Mimi being the most excited, wanting a shower and some change of clothes as well as going to a luxurious burger restaurant to have an Avocado Cheeseburger. Since Mimi lives in Shibuya the group has to split up! On the subway to their home though Koshiro and Taichi begin to feel worse. Why isn’t anyone talking about the blackout , why do they ignore the digimon with them? Things seem wrong. They are so locked into thought that they miss the next station they visit, Shibuya station.  The station they just traveled from. Meanwhile Mimi can’t seem to find the exit of the subway station and keeps ending up at the same map,  when she sees a Jack’s Burgers restaurant in the station. When the server glitches out , Mimi is pretty sure something is wrong.

The boys finally discover their train is looping as well and they get out. They find themselves in seemingly shrinking station loops happening more frequently. Relying on Greymon the group manages to collapse some of the area they are in and get out.  While it still looks like Tokyo the presence of a Digimon, who is scattered all around makes them realise they are still in the Digital world. A champion level Digimon called Eyesmon has copied it and can use it as his weapons to fight the Chosen ones. He proves to be such a formidable foe that even in their ultimate forms the digimon of our three heroes do not stand a chance. Just when  Eyesmon hurls three oil tankers at Metalgreymon, Lillymon and Atlurkabuterimon, they are held at bay by Garduamon, Zudomon comes in carrying Weregarurumon and destroys the tankers. Now united all the six chosen ones fight against a monster who can literally toss skyscrapers in their path. This champion level digimon has absorbed so much data it became this powerful. With a combined team attack they do manage to quell the danger. When the kids notice the blackout in Tokyo is still happening we see a few parts of eyesmon that did not get destroyed connect together again and it seems to digivolve into Orichimon.

The Positives

I love Mimi so much in this show! Her and Palmon’s interactions are hilarious! In this episode she also takes a starring role for me. The petty quest for an Avocado Cheeseburger is not something she gives up! No .. she let’s that desire empower her!   Seeing Palmon and herself in danger , she swears to Palmon she will take her to the real world so they can enjoy a burger together.  Giving her the strength to fight back!  Koshiro and Taichi are also  handled very well in this episode.  Taichi is becoming more of a leader noticing things are wrong in his gut, while Koshiro feels something wrong through contradictions seeing the world should not be like this.  When in trouble Taichi’s resolution is to power through and that is seen in this episode very nicely! I really love how the children are being handled here. Kari has a little cameo here which makes me wonder if she will come to the digital world. Takeru is shown with Palmon in the outro so I am pretty sure he is coming but Kari remains a bit of a mystery.. which I like!

The music and the battle here steal the spotlight in this episode. It is really great to see the group together again and see them combine their powers.  With Eyesmon shaping and twisting the city around them it is a very interesting fight as well. Metalgreymon crashes into a building so when Atlurkabuterimon leaps over the next he finds out there is a subway on top.. Lillymon gets struck by a plane.  Eventually the fight ends in complete surrealism where the city is formed into a sphere around the hero monsters. The music to accompany this all is great and it is done perfectly. It also works as a nice summary to see what everyone can do, and we see exactly how small Lillymon is next to all the other Ultimate digimon because there are a lot of great shows that offer us perspective! I do like these visual little things and it is one of the best fights yet! So on the action and personal front it was a great episode.

The Negatives

The scenario though is very bland, an illusion that keeps looping itself and where there is no escape. Star Trek Holodeck much?!  This thing has been pretty much done to death and this episode doesn’t really do anything new with it. The worst thing it does is forcing characters to be dumber than they are. I praised this show throughout for clever conflict set-up. What the characters did they were forced to do for valid reasons, here not so much.  Koshiro would never board that train without asking people about the blackout.. but no of course they have to seperate from Mimi first so questions aren’t asked until Mimi ate her burger so they could sneak in a creepy visual and get the more satisfying reaction.  I am fine with how Mimi is portrayed except that I would think she would notice her phone is dead too.. she probably would not take a subway back but ask to be picked up..if she needs that change of clothes so much. Maybe she grew who knows.. but it does feel like characters make more leaps to fit the story.

Furthermore I do think if you are going to use a location that loops, use something is a bit more visually impressive than a subway station. It does work better because everything looks alike .. but we are forced to believe this sequence of events based on a similar map on the wall. I assume a subway station has more maps. Why would they be able to travel to Shibuya but not from it.. why would the evil digimon know they are heading to Shibuya. There are several things off with the story here and while it isn’t anything horrible the show has shown it can set up conflict so much better. While the fight is very epic,  the escalation to it was very lackluster to me. It just isn’t executed well at all.

The Score

I was doubting between an Okiwi and a Fineapple here and I decided to settle on the latter. Yes it has a lot of sloppy writing, forced conflict  and even the rare character contradictions and it seriously insults the intelligence of any of the chosen ones.  Mimi doesn’t notice a Burger Restaurant just magically appears?! Okay she was hungry before.. but after she just shrugs it off.  No it isn’t nearly as well written and clever as most of the other episodes, while I think a Champion being this powerful is cool and needed to set up for Devimon later on .. it also kind of shows that you made a mistake and had to write an out!  It does show.  Yet it all feels slightly more irrelevant to me this time around because I still had so much fun.

The moments the characters DO act in character are strong, the action is sublime and the music is timed very well.  The Dr Strange like citybending and the weird eye filled version of Tokyo gave everything such an unique vibe as well. Kind of like those areas in the first three Digimon episodes that I loved  so much. I may not be convinced that this is how this scenario would play out had everything prior actually happened but I was super entertained. Like a toddler clapping at tv for seeing a fun colour combination they do not understand properly. I felt that kidlike joy that I also felt when watching the series when I was an actual kid. That in itself is also worth something I’d say. So while it is one of the dumbest episodes so far. The fact that I remember more cool scenes than poorly written episodes from anime in general makes me rule that this episode is quite alright.

My dream: A trip to Pokémon Café Tokyo

Some people dream about making a trip around the world, others wish to see the seven wonders of the world, other want to see all the art of the great masters. I dream of going to Japan one day, Tokyo most likely. I want to dine or lunch at the Pokémon Café and shop my Mudbray (Arse Pokémon)  off in the pokémon center. Unfortunately since my health prevents me from proper employment in most branches, it may be just a dream. It is a nice dream to talk about though.

Mew’s Fluffy Marshmallow Drink

While doing my research for this post I literally upset my own heart. I made it flutter so hard by cuteness overload I had to take a minute to calm myself. I am THAT excited for these kind of things. I imagine this must be how a normal girl feels when she looks at Chris Hemsworth. I feel like I am looking at a Magikarp using splash! Nothing Happens. Some people can stare at the Mona Lisa for hours and question the emotion on her face her feelings .. the brushwork blahblahblah. I look at things like that and be like… saw it in that movie.. nice that I saw the real one.. but it looks the same to me. Nice story to tell , moving on. This process takes me about thirty seconds to a minute. Sure it’s impressive but so is the floor in the Louvre. So is the cleanliness in Disneyland, you don’t see us fawning over that. I do not get excited because ‘I need to be’. When Robert Downey Junior is close to me, I’ll get just as scared as normal humans do. I’d might not even take a picture with him.. it’s just a person. It’s cool if you take a photo with him because people know him!’ Well I took a picture of me with a coca cola bottle in the background that’s more famous than Robert Downey Junior.. and that wasn’t impressive. I like what I like and I don’t have to go crazy over the common thought.

However I was looking through the official website of the pokémon café for this website and I moaned and squeed and went Oh YES, loudly. My tiny neighbour must have believed I had the best carnal encounter in years. Truth of the matter is I saw that the Pokémon Café serves a Mew’s Fluffy Marshmallow Drink. It looks like the most amazing drink in the world and it’s really basic. Just a 10 dollar cranberry yoghurt drink with strawberry flavor and lots of marshmallows with a cute mew straw. Yet somehow..the entire picture together.. tied to my favorite franchise, this drink is THE thing I  desire to have tasted most in my life right now. I have eaten in fancy restaurants have drank $400 dollar a bottle whiskeys and fancy red wines of my birth year and still this is the thing I want to taste most. Even if it can’t hold a candle towards others in quality or taste and not even in complexity. Yet this to a fan like me might be the ultimate food experience. It gets even better, I know that if I ever eat at the pokémon café it will for me be my best food experience ever and one I will never forget. Will I ever make it there? I am not sure, but does it even really matter? I already feel all fluffy inside knowing this exists and having a fantasy about a yoghurt drink just makes me incredibly happy for some reason.

Screaming at a cheesecake

  Just looking at one item on the menu made me all spinny and happy in my head and the goodness  absolutely doesn’t stop there. Having alternating menu’s what you find is always a surprise. An omelet shaped like a pikachu’s butt while he is trying to hide from something is a dish for example. A curry with pikachu shaped bread is a hearty meal for everyone to enjoy… and enjoy! There are other great drinks like the gengar grape smoothie and the legendary bird shakes. If you buy a drink you get a coaster to keep for free! And that’s done with a mini game! The server approaches you with a tablet which lets you randomly pick,  from what I assume would be the starter pokémon or the original 150 you get a coaster for you! To keep! Yay! That makes the Mew Marshmallow Drink a bit more affordable by comparison. The plates you can not keep, which is a shame because those look adorable as well. Squeee! No matter if it’s a poké paw, a pikachu head or an eevee head or even a snorlax shaped rice bowl.. it all needs to go into my kitchen someday. The Eevee hamburger needs to go into my belly as well.. gotta eat em all! The food is that adorable.

At the moment of writing they are serving cute halloween plates of Zorua Pikachu and a Meowth pumpkin pie for example. I outgrew smilies on my pancakes but this I will never outgrow. The real kicker is when you see they have a Jigglypuff Cheese cake! It’s decorated with some chocolate music notes and strawberry or raspberry jelly decorations as well. Now this alone would be enough to kill me, but during my intensive research to my dream I have found out other qualities about it as well.  People seem to love this dessert as it tastes great.. but they did something with the texture as well… get this .. they made jigglypuff .. a little jiggly! By now I am screaming at the Jigglypuff cake on my screen! I choose you! While my human eyes actually begin to transform into desirefull anime eyes…which hurts by the way,  so I am screaming at the little jiggly cheesecake. The burgers from what I hear are nothing special but I would not order a burger in Japan anyway! I want the curry and maybe an omelet as a starter. Of course I would also have to eat one of the seasonal specials so I guess when I actually get there I will be screaming at the Jigglypuff Cheesecake as well! I ate too much!!I will eat you to! Gotta eat you al! People will think I am insane, though I genuinely expect the restaurant to be full of people like me. We all scream at the Kawai Cheesecake and nearly die of happiness. 

Max Happiness

My heaven is located in Nihonbashi near Tokyo Station, on the 5th floor of the Takashimaya department store.  I do believe the pokémon center is right next to it so all I need is a little apparantment adjacent to them and the ability to the plushies and food I want and I would work there for free for the rest of my life.  Arceus knows how I will do my laundry or pay my doctor bills but I would be in bliss. I could start my days with a Ditto fruit salad.. which has a bit of blueberry yoghurt next to it decorated with a ditto eyes and smile. I am crying with happiness just thinking about eating it every day!  A nice omelet for lunch and some adorable sweets to go! Because yes! They also sell candies and little sweet buns that are perfect on the go. Reservations are mandatory in the restaurant but of course I would just book a life-time in advance , and I can do that cause you can reserve a spot there using english!  So aside from money I got my plan laid out! I do play the lottery and I totally deserve this so we know it is just a matter of time until I am a winner and migrate to the café.

I’d settle for a once in a lifetime visit though if I only win a little money! Maybe one day the pokémon company will discover how much I love the franchise and allow me to work for them! And pay me enough to make the trip! Bliss! Now the biggest issue about a one time visit is , would be the limitations of my suitcase. I would definitely have to pay extra to ship all the stuff I want to bring along back. In the café I can buy mugs, plates and plushies! By now I am in love with a marshmallow drink, screaming of at a cheesecake, crying of joy by thinking of eating Ditto Yoghurt everyday… I might just begin spewing rainbows in a bit.

A Million Starmie

I realise I am wearing rose coloured goggles. The food only gets 3,5 stars out of 5 on Trip Advisor and one guy left a negative comment about it on a website called Japan Experience.. saying he wasted his money  and it was the worst food he ate in Japan. Well I hope he chokes on a Mcdonald’s hamburger! I very well realise that what this place serves is Mall-Food.. for Mall prices. Yet many foodies describe the same phenomenon when someone eats their mothers home cooking.  It may not taste that great to those who do not share your sentiment.. but to you , your mother’s cooking is quite possibly the best in the world. My mother’s thai green curry I prefer over any restaurant who probably does it better. Food can be an experience, food can be emotion, you do not eat with just your mouth but your brain as well. While your taste buds and nose may not taste something that is particularly tasty.. the brain can ‘season’  a dish because its ‘your favorite’ or mamma cooked it.. or because it looks like a friggin adorable… *intense yelling* jiggly jigglypuff!Coca Cola in a can tastes nicer in it’s can because we know it’s coca cola than it tastes inside a glass. Unless it’s an official glass .. which Mcdonalds and the other evil burger flippers hand out like candy.  If you put housebrand cola in a coca cola glass it also tastes nicer. We might taste food with our mouth and nose, we truly experience it with our brain. 

Inside a café that displays a lot of pokémon, has lights and plants shaped like pokéballs and background music from pokémon, I know I could even eat one of the annoying kids running around there and it would still taste great. I could even just eat their shoes and still be hungry for more. This is one of the most ‘pokemon’ experience known to man. I will have a good time there even if I get shot inside the place. This is what makes it a dream to me, I might even go there if I knew I would die afterwards. It is something I want to experience that much.  Should I ever be able to get myself there, I will probably book two days to visit it.. because the first day I might be dazed. This is my Disneyland .. maybe even my heaven. Words fail to describe how deep it touches me. It might be a glorified fastfood place .. but the heart wants what it wants.  This is not a review of the restaurant and should I go there the result will be I love it , regardless if I had a tasty meal.  On yelp I would give it a million Starmie, and another million Staryu as well.. you need to do that stuff anyway in pokémon lets go so here have them! Two Million stars! This dream I would not accept critique about, if I want to waste my hypothetical money on this I should Charity or sanity be damned this is my dream and everyone should be allowed to spend money on their true dream. So yes my carbon footprint would improve and yes there are healthier foods etc. But no people do not need the money more! I need it for my dream and nothing is more important to someone than be able to live their dream. Not even being a good person. So think bad of me all you like for having such a silly dream. Keep the hate to yourself though as I just want to sip my Mew’s Fluffy Marshmallow Drink while I dry my tears of joy  and scream at my cheesecake!

Question to my readers:

What is your ‘petty/selfish’ dream (No ‘that everyone is happy’ dreams here)

A less than informative post for you this time but hey, you at least learned a little bit more about me again. Also a lesson, never let the general opinion stand in the way of your own happiness. You never know if you do it right for someone else.. and you will always know if you do right by yourself. So make sure you are happy! It’s okay to have ‘petty’  dreams!
That of course doesn’t mean you should not support anyone.. but find a balance that works for you! We all matter, you matter, I matter! Be happy, have a dream!

The Pinkest Poké Blogger is blasting off again
XO
Pinkie