Digimon Adventure: Episode 14- The Kings of the Insects Clash

[Mattman324]

I find myself disliking an episode yet again. The entire episode was intended to be about Koushiro being himself and not being too reliant on machines, but... you can't just have that message when the solution to every past problem they've hit has essentially been "his computer", and especially not after he spends so much time bitching about not having access to it that you'd think Jou popped in to pretend to be him. Like, I like Koushiro, but this episode made him frigging unbearable.

And that doesn't change that this entire episode feels super pointless because as I said last week when the preview hit, there is literally no reason that they couldn't just fly over the damn maze. I admit that last week someone had a good point that it may have had a reason, like maybe someone drops something into it so they have to go collect it, or someone gets dropped into it so they have to find them, or something... but that didn't happen, so I'm stuck wondering why they didn't just fly over the damn maze.

I can, at least, cop to liking Atlurkabuterimon using Horn Buster like he's Combattler V though.

Them flying would’ve got them caught much easier.

Oh no, a bunch of Adults would have caught Metalgreymon and Lilymon, who would have made mincemeat out of all of them before double teaming Okuwamon. How horrid. And hey, speaking of which, why the hell didn't either of them go Perfect during the episode until it was way too late? Greymon tried to but wasn't able to for... some reason? Even though that's powered by the kids? And Taichi wasn't being hurt at the time? And all the Digimon were perfectly capable of hitting Adult no problem in spite of the enemies oncoming?

It seems to me that there’s some sort of cooldown when it comes to evolving(at least to ultimate)

Would be nice if the show actually bothered showing this, or mentioning this, or having anything even remotely related to this. It has not yet, however, so as far as anyone can tell this is a complete falsehood. I understand that "show, don't tell" is very important, but they haven't shown and they haven't told, so if there's some mysterious hidden limit to evolution we haven't seen they should probably get on that, as right now we're left with shit like Kabuterimon being in that state for multiple episodes that's already completely counter to every other series' take on evolution.

 

[Lilimonblooms]

Great episode, however I'm disappointed that lillymon didn't appear, I expected her to come at the end with metalgreymon.
Togemon was amazing though.
I feel that the plot is rushed and they are evolving without clear reason

 

[Firerockbird]

After a long time (post-episode 9 to be exact) an episode that I can say I really liked! even though atlurkabuterimon's digi-evolution was weak it was much better applied compared to metalgreymon (anyway, thank God him didn’t overshadow atlur in this episode) sorry taichi fans, but seeing him being almost useless in this episode was a good script choice, and for the first time in a long time I feel that the animation in this episode was very good, I would say, almost the same as the first three episodes, and that consequently made me excited again to see new episodes of the reboot, the problem is that this excitement will go away in the next episode because I doubt that I will like "reboot joe" just because he got a zudomon for some "merit".

 

[Rohan]

It's finally Izzy's time to shine. Definitely better then the atrocious way OG Adventure handled the Crest of Knowledge that's for sure. A very hectic episode with the crew constantly being pressured by by the Kuwagamon, tension was thick when Izzy tried to avert his eyes from the fight but some choice words from his bro got him outta his funk. Saddened that Lilimon didn't appear but I'll take Togemon actually being effective.

Even if Joe has become the butt monkey of this show, I must admit a laugh did escape me when Joe felt asleep and Yamato was all like "now we can get on".

 

[CloneWarrior]

Were the sound effects in the opening theme new?

 

[Vande]

Were the sound effects in the opening theme new?

Yes, as mentioned in a few people's posts.

 

[dgmn]

Much better episode time-wise and pacing was better. Metalgreymon didn't steal the show this time.
And Atlurkabuterimon struggling while fighting Okuwamon made it so much more interesting and even than previous ultimate vs ultimate battles. Kuwagamon were also much tougher champions than many digimon before not counting Ogremon.

But Mimi is amazing, like a youtuber/instagram star stuck in an alternate world. Her comments, or better yet her voice actress make her far more appreciated than in '99 version where at least to me she was a crying and whining brat.

Joe better shine with Zudomon in the next episode.

 

[Mattman324]

And Atlurkabuterimon struggling while fighting Okuwamon made it so much more interesting and even than previous ultimate vs ultimate battles.

...when did he struggle? He locked arms and was even, then punched and kicked the crap out of Okuwamon, then tossed him around, then killed him. There was at no point in that fight a struggle.

 

[Deion123]

I find myself disliking an episode yet again. The entire episode was intended to be about Koushiro being himself and not being too reliant on machines, but... you can't just have that message when the solution to every past problem they've hit has essentially been "his computer", and especially not after he spends so much time bitching about not having access to it that you'd think Jou popped in to pretend to be him. Like, I like Koushiro, but this episode made him frigging unbearable.

And that doesn't change that this entire episode feels super pointless because as I said last week when the preview hit, there is literally no reason that they couldn't just fly over the damn maze. I admit that last week someone had a good point that it may have had a reason, like maybe someone drops something into it so they have to go collect it, or someone gets dropped into it so they have to find them, or something... but that didn't happen, so I'm stuck wondering why they didn't just fly over the damn maze.

I can, at least, cop to liking Atlurkabuterimon using Horn Buster like he's Combattler V though.

Them flying would’ve got them caught much easier.

Oh no, a bunch of Adults would have caught Metalgreymon and Lilymon, who would have made mincemeat out of all of them before double teaming Okuwamon. How horrid. And hey, speaking of which, why the hell didn't either of them go Perfect during the episode until it was way too late? Greymon tried to but wasn't able to for... some reason? Even though that's powered by the kids? And Taichi wasn't being hurt at the time? And all the Digimon were perfectly capable of hitting Adult no problem in spite of the enemies oncoming?

It seems to me that there’s some sort of cooldown when it comes to evolving(at least to ultimate)

Would be nice if the show actually bothered showing this, or mentioning this, or having anything even remotely related to this. It has not yet, however, so as far as anyone can tell this is a complete falsehood. I understand that "show, don't tell" is very important, but they haven't shown and they haven't told, so if there's some mysterious hidden limit to evolution we haven't seen they should probably get on that, as right now we're left with shit like Kabuterimon being in that state for multiple episodes that's already completely counter to every other series' take on evolution.

Sure, Lilymon and MetalGreymon vs a bunch of Kwagamon and Owkuwamon would be an easy win, but I simply believe that they couldn’t evolve because of my reasoning. Also with Kabuterimon flying above and carrying everyone, he would be an easier target and the kids would be in an even worse situation. Which was why my reasoning for why they couldn’t just fly was the way it was. I was taking about Kabuterimon flying and him only because I already rationalized why we can’t get Lilymon and MetalGreymon at this point. I really thought I made that clear honestly.

Also, to add, maybe with ultimate evolution characters have to display their crest trait naturally. That’s plausible right? Taichi certainly wasn’t courageous when he wanted to retreat. I didn’t see Mimi showing sorrow and anger. Also, I feel stuff was shown. The conclusions I came to are based on what I’ve seen from the show so far. I felt the reason why characters didn’t use Ultimates right away after they got them was because of some cooldown making them not be able to use them willy nilly(I would also argue this when it comes to powering up digimon as well). Also it seemed that Taichi’s digivice glowed and after Greymon was getting bodied it stopped. Also Taichi didn’t want to fight them head on at that point and he went with Koushiro’s plan instead of trying to brute force it right from the start. It does show things. It’s just subtle about it. What you see as something that’s lazy,I see it as letting the audience piece together what’s going on. I like that. If I couldn’t make these conclusions(which wasn’t hard at all) I would’ve liked this episode less. So even IF you were right, I still like this episode because of how it developed Koushiro. I care more about what we actually see in this episode rather than if it mattered or not like you do. It’s about the journey and not the destination in my opinion.

Also, I had no issues with Koushiro’s development here. He always relied on his tablet, it was unusable, then he had to improvise and use his brain, and HOPEFULLY we see at lot more of that to showcase his development. I see no issues with the episode. Why does it matter that the computer was the solution before and Koushiro being discouraged? That means nothing if the ability to analyze on that was taken away. He can’t expect to be able to use it all the time and he needs to prepare to use his brain when he can’t use it. This is a natural progression of Koushiro’s development. He never annoyed me and I came out of this episode liking him even more than before like the rest of the cast so far with the ultimate evolution episodes(Except Sora cause no character development but I still like her.) So I respectfully disagree with you.

Great episode, however I'm disappointed that lillymon didn't appear, I expected her to come at the end with metalgreymon.
Togemon was amazing though.
I feel that the plot is rushed and they are evolving without clear reason

How so?

 

[Lilimonblooms]

Great episode, however I'm disappointed that lillymon didn't appear, I expected her to come at the end with metalgreymon.
Togemon was amazing though.
I feel that the plot is rushed and they are evolving without clear reason

How so?

I feel like the process is very fast, in the original they used to take a lot more time to digivolve, it felt more natural.
Sora and yamato made their digimons evolve without real emotions in my opinion.

 

[Deion123]

Great episode, however I'm disappointed that lillymon didn't appear, I expected her to come at the end with metalgreymon.
Togemon was amazing though.
I feel that the plot is rushed and they are evolving without clear reason

How so?

I feel like the process is very fast, in the original they used to take a lot more time to digivolve, it felt more natural.
Sora and yamato made their digimons evolve without real emotions in my opinion.

That’s what the mega evolutions foreshadowed in episode 5 are for.

It's finally Izzy's time to shine. Definitely better then the atrocious way OG Adventure handled the Crest of Knowledge that's for sure. A very hectic episode with the crew constantly being pressured by by the Kuwagamon, tension was thick when Izzy tried to avert his eyes from the fight but some choice words from his bro got him outta his funk. Saddened that Lilimon didn't appear but I'll take Togemon actually being effective.

Even if Joe has become the butt monkey of this show, I must admit a laugh did escape me when Joe felt asleep and Yamato was all like "now we can get on".

Why didn’t you like how OG adventure handled it?

And Atlurkabuterimon struggling while fighting Okuwamon made it so much more interesting and even than previous ultimate vs ultimate battles.

...when did he struggle? He locked arms and was even, then punched and kicked the crap out of Okuwamon, then tossed him around, then killed him. There was at no point in that fight a struggle.

When he was pushed in the air and locked arms with Okuwamon. It’s small, but I appreciate it like he does. It’s just not a blatant as the others were at least.

 

[BlankShell]

Are there like... two different writing teams for the separate groups? Because group A is killing it in the character development. For real, Izzy's overreliance on the tablet would be one thing (and well portrayed) but his admission at the end that he developed the reliance because he wanted to fulfill a certain niche within the group made it incredibly relatable. And he's still smart on his own, which is great. It's no "my parents aren't my bio-parents" but still.

As usual there's no clear distinction on the miasma front which is still a big pet peeve of mine! There was a Soundbirdmon, but the Kuwagamon had miasma, but Okuwamon (like Cannonbeemon?) had nothing. Hopefully we'll get answers once we get to Leomon.

The fight scenes in this episode were also top notch, I especially enjoyed Togemon vaulting over the fallen Greymon for an uppercut. MegaKabuterimon just wrecking things was also a blast, especially set to Extreme Fight. A bit of a bummer Lilymon didn't get an appearance, but I guess they had stalled for enough time with a MetalGreymon evolution sequence.

That said the animation outside of the fight scenes was... not great? The human character models in particular looked poorly animated and had weird facial features and proportions. And the same-y background wasn't my favorite, but that's minor given the diversity in locations we've had so far. All in all a great episode.

 

[MattNightfall]

I don't know if anyone noticed, but I believe Takeru appeared in this episode. Or rather, just his hand...

Well, if you check it out, all - or almost all, if I remember correctly - have, in addition to their digivices, an identical cell phone with colored cases representing the color of their crests.

For example:

Hikari cell phone, pink. As seen on Episode 1, when she drops it while talking with Taichi.
Taichi cell phone, Orange. As seen on Episode 1 when he contacted his mother and Hikari.
Sora's cell phone, red. As seen on Episode 4, at the first take of Sora in the Digital World.
Yamato's cell phone, blue. As seen on the first ending.

And in this episode 14 we were simply thrown to a newscast about a building on fire, where trapped inside an elevator, there was a person with a cell phone IDENTICAL TO OTHERS, but in a GREEN color. Well, see... Naturally the color associated with Takeru in Digimon Adventure was Yellow, but in 02 it started to be green, where even its digivice received the green color. Coincidentally a color associated with hope itself.

So ... I just question myself if like koichi kimura in Frontier, something bad will happen to Takeru there.

 

[JeanGreymon]

The maze is often a metaphor for the mind so I liked how this episode was working on this symbolic level. Kabuterimon is one of my favourite champions so I loved how much he helped Izzy. He was using his tablet to replace his own brain rather than as an extension of it. It was clever to parallel Izzy's reflection on a blank tablet screen with the use of mirrors as a strategy to take down the Kuwagamon.

This series is really action-oriented and that's pretty exciting. I love the evolutions can be so dynamic in this series like they were when the three rookies evolved into champion. Togemon was the VIP for showing off how much of a brawler she was! I liked seeing Greymon get taken down a notch for once. The series has done a great job showcasing Greymon so it's time to let others like Togemon shine.

Megakabuterimon is a very cool Digimon and I'd be happy to call him the king of insects! His evolution sequence was maybe the weakest so far, but we might see something better later when he's not holding Izzy. His horn is my favourite design feature so I love how much his big attack makes use of it. He used all his limbs in combat and was quite nimble in the open air! I didn't think Okuwamon was as interesting as last episode's Canonbeemon and he didn't come across nearly as powerful.

Mimi and Izzy's episodes are my favourites of these ultimate showcases, but I want to give some credit to the other squad because I think they've done more serialized storytelling. Sora cared the most about those stranded Digimon, but we got Weregarurumon because the episode made audiences question Matt's loyalty. Sora's concern came up again with the funbeemon, another conflict she could have coldly walked away from (unlike Mimi or Izzy who had to fight their threats to live). This episode set-up the dynamic between Matt and Joe that will be dealt with in the next episode.

If we're comparing to the original, the reboot is faster-paced and the storytelling around the ultimates is more formulaic. I suspect this is mostly due to the inclusion of all 8 megas in this series, which means ultimates are more of a stepping stone to their completed forms. Episode 14 of the original was a softer episode where the kids' ally Digimon help them build a raft. It's too bad this series' pacing hasn't afforded that collection of allies. But episode 14 did include an obligatory fight with yet another black gear Digimon, which is less interesting than the threats we've seen in the reboot. The two series trade off strengths and weaknesses which keeps the franchise quite fresh in my opinion.

 

[HawkG]

It's nice to see what's happening in the real world again even if it is a bit aggressive. Unless something else happened, they only lost power why is everything exploding. I guess it's easier for kids to digest than a hospital losing power. But it lays a good amount of foreshadowing for Koushiro's conflict later on.

I really enjoyed the shading this episode. The warm and bright higher area of the maze contrasted well with the cool lower areas. The mirrors got me set for some good boarding and it did not disappoint. And while the backgrounds were pretty similar throughout, it let the parts that stand out show off more.

As for the writing, it was the best so far far. Koushiro's problem was pretty obvious and handling was standard but Kabuterimon's attentiveness the whole time pulls it all together for me. It's little bits like that that make Digimon memorable for me.

And for the last bit, the new ending was really good. Very fun and bouncy and it might be foreshadowing for things to come. It's basic character deigns and varied color pallet was really charming.

 

[Mattman324]

When he was pushed in the air and locked arms with Okuwamon.

...which, wasn't him struggling? He locked arms with Okuwamon and was even in terms of strength. And then, like, he actually decided to start attacking and instantly won.

A struggle would imply he actually took some hits, or damage, or literally anything, or even that his opponent was just really good at taking hits or dodging them, not "he had to actually bother exerting force".

 

[e105zeta]

This was the best Perfect evolution episode by far, character wise. I also like how the conflict was set up by Taichi’s earlier hyping of Koushiro as a computer genius from earlier in the series.

 

[DragonicEmperor]

Quite liked this episode. But I find this group in general way more fun to follow. The other one is kind of boring to follow. It has Joe and Gomamon but I find Sora and Yamato kind of boring thus far. (And by extent Piyomon and Gabumon who haven't really spoken that much or showed any personality.)

 

[taz111]

This episode was great. I wasn't looking forward to it as I'm not a Kabutrimon or Izzy fan like that, but it really surprised me. I think Tai, Mimi, and Izzy have a better dynamic than the other group. I do love Tai and Mimi's chemistry. Also to note, one of the things I really love about this series is the fact that everyone is really helping and acknowledging each other during battles even if its not their Digimon or human partners - they are covering each others backs in battles.

 

[zerorynga]

This episode kinda bothered me with how the kids were overwhelmed by Kuwagamon, but still not evolving their partner Digimon to their Perfect-level, only at the end, Greymon evolved to MetalGreymon, seriously, what took him so long.
Previously, it didn't took that long for Greymon to evolve to MetalGreymon to fight Andromon, but his bulky size and the narrow and collapsing surrounding area limited its movement, hence the chance for Lilymon, it was well-written and logical.
I just can't come up with any reasonable explanation for this episode's illogical actions.
Any thoughts about this, guys?
And it felt like Tri's first episode, they were able to evolve to Perfect-level or beyond but "chose" to be overwhelmed by Kuwagamon.
Is it a thing for them to be trampled by Kuwagamon that much?
It probably has do with Kuwagamon being their very first enemy.