#not even the way we love daigo like we love him because he's pathetic | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dreamwatchpro-wrestling · 3 years

Text

Dreamwatch: REMember (Match 5)

Dreamscape Stellar World Championship Match: Ryuji Katagiri (c) vs Adrien Gutierrez (Click here to watch!)

Time for our main event of the evening! Ryuji Katagiri is back in Dreamwatch to defend his Dreamscape Stellar World Championship against a new face! Every single challenger on tonight's show was chosen randomly by a lottery beforehand. This gave Adrien Gutierrez a huge opportunity to go from being a solid wrestler to being shot into the stratosphere with one match... However, he has to get past Ryuji Katagiri, who has looked impressive up to this point, even winning the top belt in his very first match for the company! Gutierrez now has the chance to do the same! Tension is in the air for this one for sure!

This match started off somewhat slow but was initially looking like a dominant performance from Katagiri, similar to his title-winning performance against Ryukawa. He got some solid strikes in and was able to wrestle Gutierrez to the ground a couple of times, but after a little bit something changed. Katagiri went for a back mount on Gutierrez, but before he could go into a submission or grounded strikes, Gutierrez did an impressive reversal into a pin attempt. At this point I was impressed with Gutierrez' ability to adapt to the situation and to get the ball rolling at least a little bit. Then, out of absolutely nowhere, two and a half minutes in, Gutierrez lands a HUGE Orange Crush on Katagiri! This moment in hindsight was similar to Katagiri's straight right that busted Ryukawa open early in their title bout. This huge moment here gave Gutierrez all of the confidence he needed and he absolutely sprang to life after that. Katagiri spent a significant portion of the match on the ground, getting knocked down over and over again by the quick and impactful offense of Gutierrez. When the two of them had a strike exchange that Gutierrez ended up winning, everyone watching, myself included, was completely stunned. What were we watching here? Were we about to witness a star-making performance here? Gutierrez seemed to think so, hitting high flying moves, solid strikes, and even getting Katagiri in submissions when he was on the ground!

Maybe he felt insulted, or maybe he felt the match slipping away from his fingers, but whatever the reasoning was Katagiri knew he had to make a comeback and did so in a huge way, landing an incredible straight right that knocked Gutierrez down. He continued the assault, throwing some of the most brutal punches that Dreamwatch had ever seen, and that signaled the end right there.

Because Gutierrez got up. He took Katagiri's best shot and continued to stand, and Katagiri seemed to be completely thrown for a loop at that point. Gutierrez hit a vertical suplex on the already worn down Katagiri followed by another amazing looking Orange Crush to get the three count in a SHOCKING match! Adrien Gutierrez won the match out of nowhere! The world has been shaken and the landscape of Dreamwatch has been completely rearranged!

-Post match comments-

*Gutierrez shares an embrace with his friends*

Adrien Gutierrez: *choked up* I-I really don't know what to say uh... Hi Dreamwatch. My name is Adrien Gutierrez... I'm a dreamer whose dreams are coming true... Its fitting that I made this big step here. I wasn't sure what would happen, after I got this invitation. My confidence in myself hasn't always been perfect, but in the days before I prepared to make my way over here Alex Garcia... He reached out to me. I'd never spoken to Alex but he wanted to see me in person and he personally wanted me to know that I could do it. He would not end our conversation until he could see it... Until he could see that I believed it with my eyes. I also have to mention my brothers, Davi Romero and Daniel Muchos who kept me calm and came all this way with me. I told them it should be them, and they said it has to be me right now. I still believe that we, El Principe, will stand at the top together. Thank you guys...

*The three men embrace again*

Adrien Gutierrez: Whew... Dreamwatch... Katagiri... Thank you. Thank you for giving me this chance. I'll treasure this moment, this win, forever. I won't let you guys down!

Ryuji Katagiri: *breathing heavily* I was overwhelmed. That doesn't happen to me too often but I was completely overwhelmed. Maybe I'd gotten soft, winning the top belt in my first match. I got a little soft, he wasn't. He was hungry, I guess hungrier than I was tonight. But I'm glad he won. I hadn't heard of him before today, but he's good, and did the absolute most with that opportunity. I can't say I'm not mad about it though. It's embarrassing, losing on your first defense, especially after hearing that I was getting special treatment and that I was actually all hype. Its gonna get even more intense now, but anyone that talks can get punched in the mouth, and I'll make it back to the top in no time.

*Hiro Kurosaki interrupts the interview*

Kurosaki: You get a free ride to a main event title match, and then you immediately lose it?! Do you know how many people are struggling to get anything here?! You, and all of your friends are pathetic... You get all this attention despite the fact that none of you have really done anything since you got here! I've been here since day one and I've been the one actually having to claw my way to the top-

Daigo Asahina: You've been here since day one and there is a highlight reel of you losing, Kurosaki.

Kurosaki: You... You think this is a joke, don't you. You're not a real professional wrestler, even. You sit there and look pretty and let Katagiri do your fighting for you. You don't mean anything to anyone and if you talk to me like that again I will break you in two!

Daigo Asahina: You seem desperate for a fight. We can meet in the ring if you'd like.

Kurosaki: I'd love to! Dreamwatch better not protect you. Put Daigo in the ring with me. I'll start with you, and I'll make my way through your whole group. You wont see the top of this company ever again. You will see

D a r k M a t t e r

*Kurosaki exits*

Daigo Asahina: That was interesting, huh? I was just telling myself I need to stop being lazy and fight more.

Ryuji Katagiri: Time for us to march forward. We're more than a flash in the pan, but at this point we've gotta let our matches do the talking.

#Dreamwatch Pro Wrestling #Fire Pro Wrestling #Adrien Gutierrez #Ryuji Katagiri #Dreamscape Stellar World Championship #Dreamwatch: REMember #Dreamwatch 9.19.21

3 notes · View notes

jippy-kandi · 4 years

Photo

Digimon Adventure tri. – Complete Series Review (English Dub)

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna revitalised my waning interest in Digimon. So much so that I felt like rewatching tri. – but, seeing as I’ve never seen the English dub of it, I decided that would be my “rewatch”! I grew up with the English dub of Digimon, so I have a very soft spot for it. I still think the original Japanese version is far superior, but the English dub really was my childhood.

Under the cut are brief thoughts on the English voice actors, and then a lot more thoughts on the series – or, rather, just what came to mind as I was rewatching the movies. As it turns out . . . most of that was just my intense dislike for certain parts of Matt and Tai’s characterisation.

Note: I do mention Kizuna quite a bit in comparison to tri., but I don’t spoil anything (except for two lines that don’t impact the plot). I don’t think my Kizuna mentions will spoil your enjoyment of the film if you haven’t seen it.

English Voice Actors

Joshua Seth as Tai: PERFECT. He’s definitive Tai to me and he was amazing from the first movie to the last. All my dreams came true, etc. I was disappointed he didn’t return in Revenge of Diaboromon (where his replacement sounded like Joe . . .), but was happy at least Michael Reisz returned for that movie as Matt. But for tri. it was the opposite: Seth returned, but Reisz didn’t. :(

Vic Mignogna as Matt: MY EARS, THEY BLEED. He’s the actual reason I put off watching the English dub of tri. for years. I was so excited about the English dub, but then the very first promo clip of it with Matt speaking was released and I . . . it was truly horrific. He turned me off completely. And as soon as he spoke in Reunion, I had to stop the movie. BUT I EVENTUALLY SOLDIERED ON. OMG. He’s so terrible as Matt. There are a few lines he delivers that are . . . OK . . . but, mostly, he was a major miscast. I really hope Michael Reisz comes back for the probable Kizuna dub. I don’t care if they think he doesn’t have a low enough voice for adult Matt – he IS Matt to most Digimon fans worldwide. BRING HIM BACK.

Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Sora: PERFECT. Absolutely loved her, definitive Sora right here. Well, OK, I might love original Japanese kid Sora just a tiny bit more, lol. But she’s almost as great! I really wish I could’ve heard her conversing with Michael Reisz. :(

Philece Sampler as Mimi: PERFECT. It’s Mimi grown up, I’ve got no complaints, it doesn’t get better than this.

Mona Marshall as Izzy: PERFECT. Though isn’t it odd that a woman still voices him? Lol. I really appreciated that four of the old voice actors reprised their roles. I think it really helped with the nostalgia. I just wish all of them had returned.

Robbie Daymond as Joe: He was really good as Joe, but . . . he would’ve made an excellent Matt. Seriously. Every time he spoke, I kept thinking, “WHY DID THEY NOT CAST YOU AS MATT?” He just had to lose a bit of the “pathetic, nerd” effect in his voice and he would’ve made an AMAZING Matt. The voice director had no idea what he was doing.

Johnny Yong Bosch as T.K.: He made an excellent T.K., so I definitely approve. However . . . he also would’ve made an excellent Matt, if he aged his voice up a bit more. The English dub literally had TWO voice actors (T.K. and Joe’s) who could’ve voiced Matt better, but instead went for Vic Mignogna!? Seriously, what a fail. The only positive is that Matt and T.K. did sound like brothers . . . with T.K. having the far better voice.

Tara Sands as Kari: She was . . . OK. Sometimes she sounded way too old, though. She was decent enough . . . but her old voice actress was a lot better. Still, she wasn’t nearly as bad as Matt. *cough*

Cristina Vee as Meiko: Wow, her voice really annoyed me in the first two movies. But I think that’s because she was being all shy and wet blanket-y. She’s . . . OK in the end, I guess. Nothing special.

Cherami Leigh as Maki (“Hime”): I actually thought she was the most talented voice actor in the series. Her voice suited the character the most as well. I was super impressed with her. A+

Doug Erholtz as Daigo: He . . . sounds like an older version of 02 T.K., because that’s who he used to voice. It was odd when Daigo would talk with Matt, because I kept thinking Matt was talking to future T.K.. But he was fine as Daigo, I guess. (Off-topic: Japanese Daigo is voicing Japanese reboot Yamato . . . what is with Daigo and the Takaishidas!?)

Digimon Adventure tri.

I watched the tri. movies over a week. I wrote down my initial thoughts after each viewing, and then came back and expanded on them later. Because I didn’t want this post to be TOO long (even though . . . it is), I kept it mostly to my issues with the series instead of listing the things I liked. If you want, you can read my initial thoughts (including positive things) on each movie as they were originally released here. Below are my most “pressing” thoughts on a rewatch.

Chapter 1: Reunion

I still have major issues with Matt and Tai’s role-reversal in tri.. I think what annoys me the most is when a show asserts something that is simply not true. Tai saying Matt hasn’t changed at all (YES HE HAS, HE CHANGED INTO YOU AND YOU CHANGED INTO HIM). It’s one thing to just have that happen – but for a show to be obnoxious enough to SAY A LINE that is asserting something ridiculous just to put it into existence is irritating. “Matt hasn’t changed one bit.” = “Matt’s in-character because we say so, all right?” Annoying.

Matt was super aggressive and it really annoyed me. If you want to be very black and white, you’d say, “well he was pretty aggressive in Adventure”. But you’d be ignoring that he was only aggressive in Adventure in REACTION to someone else. Someone else HAD to set him off – usually Tai was pissing him off in some way, making an insensitive remark, etc.. But Tai ACTS first. Matt REACTS. But in tri., Tai does nothing and Matt just goes at him. That’s a loose cannon – and yes, there is a difference between having someone push your buttons and exploding, and . . . just . . . exploding.

Consider this example from Adventure: Matt puts up with Joe’s shit (really DemiDevimon) in the diner for a LONG time before exploding at him. Because that’s Matt. He’s an introvert who holds shit in before exploding, giving people a lot of chances and hoping it’ll work out. He doesn’t just explode unnaturally and often like in tri., as though it’s second nature to him (when it really isn’t). I really disliked how tri. devolved his character to that of the typical “brute” of the group (JUST to be Tai’s foil too, which made it even more annoying).

And, even though I haven’t seen the first season in YEARS, I still remember the “digimon graves” scene very clearly and how it characterised Matt and Tai perfectly (it summed up their ENTIRE characterisation – how their characters operated differently – in the first season). There are other scenes that present the same thing, but I think it’s THE definitive scene you need to know to have an issue with the “wrong” parts of Tai and Matt’s characterisation in tri..

They role-reversed that shit and it annoys me so much because Matt is so much more empathetic than Tai, but tri. turns him into an aggressive frat boy in Reunion and makes him lose all his perspective and observational skills -- which Adventure showed us he had a TONNE of (one of the things about him that made him my favourite character, and thus why it annoyed me SO much that they ignored this aspect of him completely to make him a “tsundere brute 9000”).

Basically, tri. got rid of the layers that made Matt and Tai who they were, and instead added “new layers” to them that MADE THEM INTO EACH OTHER. And then had the balls to ACT LIKE THEY’VE ALWAYS BEEN THAT WAY – for Matt, anyway, where they had Tai explicitly state that he never changed (WTF? Not only is that obviously A LIE, but it’s also asserting that MATT DIDN’T GROW AT ALL). For Tai, he was “growing” . . . into Matt – where Matt himself had an issue with his friend being like him in the past. Yeah, seriously. What a mess.

I don’t often think characters are “out of character” (in any series – writers usually have a good grasp on their characters) – but I definitely did here.

As I once joked to a friend:

Adventure told me all the ways Taichi was going to top Yamato.

And tri. told me all the ways Yamato was going to top Taichi.

Score: 5/10.

Chapter 2: Determimation

So . . . let’s talk about the “meeting scene” where Matt gets angry that Joe never turned up because studying is more important to him, and Tai shuts him down and defends Joe by saying he has his reasons . . .

I disliked this scene a lot because I felt like, as in the first episode, their roles were 100% reversed. TAI would’ve gotten angry at Joe for not turning up (Tai prioritizes ACTION over inaction/emotions/everything else) and MATT would have defended Joe for not turning up to a digimon meeting, because he has more empathy for people and is more understanding than Tai.

I strongly felt this way the very first time I saw Determination – and I still strongly feel this way about it now. The scene was a COMPLETE role-reversal and thus why I had issues with it.

Well, guess what?

In KIZUNA a similar scene happens. After a digimon fight in the movie, TAICHI says something like “only four of us showed up!?” (read: HE HAS THE ISSUE) and YAMATO defends everyone who didn’t show up (saying something like they all have their own lives).

Oh shit, was that Tai prioritisng ACTION over inaction and personal responsibilities (EXACTLY like how he was in season one)?

Oh shit, was that Yamato BEING EMPATHETIC AND UNDERSTANDING to others (EXACTLY like how he was in season one)?

THIS EXCHANGE IN KIZUNA WAS SO IN-CHARACTER THAT I NEVER THOUGHT ANYTHING OF IT.

I only remembered it when confronted again with the “meeting scene” in Determination – BECAUSE IT WAS THE REVERSE OF THE SCENE IN KIZUNA.

The Kizuna scene is just how the characters are in Adventure/02. Tai expects people to just fight, while Matt is empathetic. (HELLO AS WELL, DIGIMON GRAVES SCENE IN SEASON ONE.)

Seriously, tri. is really annoying with the Matt and Tai role-reversal. It’s my personal biggest criticism of the series because the characters are what I care about the most in Digimon, so if you’re going to switch them up – that shit is going to annoy me. No matter how bad a story is, at least do right by the characters and keep them in-character.

And I know the (very few) people who loved Matt and Tai’s role-reversal in tri. use the excuse of “tri. showing the characters growing” . . . But, man, I really can’t get behind that. Like, no, tri. just decided to switch Matt and Tai’s roles to serve their chosen plot (which is Tai growing up and becoming more ~mature – and I get it, it’s a GREAT theme to explore . . . but it shouldn’t have happened at the expense of BOTH their characterisations).

What “growth” is it when Matt is empathetic at 11, a frat boy arsehole at 17, and back to being empathetic at 22? What “growth” is it when Tai has always been a capable leader at 11 (because he KNOWS his priorities – which is WHY HE’S THE LEADER), suddenly frozen at 17 to an exhausting extent that even Matt never reached, and back to being the same capable leader with the SAME priorities at 22 that he had at 11? Yeah, that’s not growth. That’s mischaracterisation in one series.

Why do I have such an issue with this? Because it’s something that is FUNDAMENTAL to a person. You switch this ONE thing up and, suddenly, the person is operating as an entirely different person. Matt isn’t being Matt. Tai isn’t being Tai. It’s fundamental to WHO THEY ARE, and when you fuck with it, you’re essentially presenting an entirely different person. Matt doesn’t operate like that. Tai doesn’t operate like that. And it’s so obvious that the issue is with the WRITERS either not fully grasping their characters and/or just deliberately forcing it to fit their chosen plot (at the expense of the characters).

Anyway, I just feel really justified that tri. did Matt and Tai so wrong. Kizuna is BRILLIANT for any Taichi and Yamato fan who love the characters as they are in Adventure/02. I highly recommend it if you actually want to see the characters represented as they are in Adventure/02. Kizuna does NOT come across as fanfiction, which I think tri. really, really does (especially in the first two movies). I never once thought, watching Kizuna, that the characters were reinterpretations by a fanfiction author with Toei Animation funding – which is what I regularly thought in tri..

Score: 6/10.

Chapter 3: Confession

OK, this is a very slight thing (a brief line that was meant for laughs), but I’m on a roll regarding this issue, so why not? I’ll take another opportunity to get my point across.

T.K. says that fighting is Matt’s thing . . . yeah, no. Again, I dislike how tri. took ONE aspect of Matt’s character (how he fights with Tai a lot in Adventure) and EXAGGERATED THE HELL OUT OF IT. (The exaggeration here is that the line is supposed to summarise Matt as super aggressive in the entire series.) In tri., he is a tsundere brute with a capital T. And it reduces him to such a simple person, taking no considerations for his entire character. Matt in tri. seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face, like he was always grumpy. Chill, tri., Matt actually isn’t all that grumpy.

Go back and watch Adventure and 02. Matt is actually pretty laid-back – until someone ticks him off. But it has always been about EMOTIONS with Matt, NOT random acts of aggression. I wish the tri. writers knew the subtleties and nuances of Matt’s character better and didn’t just TURN HIM INTO TAI to be “new” Tai (OLD MATT’S) foil. Thank god Kizuna put things back to the way they were. Seriously, when you watch Kizuna, you REALLY feel like Toei went from:

Adventure -> 02 -> JUMPED STRAIGHT OVER TRI. WITH MATT AND TAI’S JARRING CHARACTERISATION -> Kizuna.

Anyway, that line was in a scene meant for laughs, so . . . it’s fine I guess. (I still judge the writers.) The only real con of the movie is that Meiko comes across as a wet blanket who doesn’t deserve the sympathy from the other characters (but somehow . . . just gets it). This is the writing in the previous movies being terrible, because they never showed us convincingly why the Chosen Children would actually accept and care about Meiko so much.

On a positive . . . this is the movie that made me fall in love with T.K.. It’s also – by far – the best written movie in the series and, personally, my favourite Digimon movie ever. So thanks, tri..

Score: 8.5/10.

Chapter 4: Loss

Yokomon being a bitch to Sora and no one else is still so incredibly forced and defies logic. I don’t think anyone can argue with this. But, other than this major bad writing flaw . . . the film was surprisingly pretty good. It probably has the best pacing of all the tri. films, too. I don’t think I even looked at how much time I had left of the movie to go (which I constantly did for Reunion and Determination, because . . . zzzzzzz).

I’m pretty torn about whether it was as good as Kizuna. I think . . . it was? But only because ALL of the characters were in it.

Let me put it another way: I think Kizuna is actually the slightly better film, but because Kizuna only really had TWO main characters, it makes its score go down a bit -- to match Loss’ score, which actually is slightly “worse”. But the fact that Loss has ALL the characters in it, lifts it up a bit to be pretty on par with Kizuna to me.

But Kizuna has more of an emotional punch, so, I would say Kizuna edges it out . . . just. Loss also has more flaws than Kizuna. But, overall, Loss was a pretty good film. Well done, tri., you’re on a roll! (And then . . . you stopped abruptly, lol.)

My favourite exchange:

Izzy: “Matt and Tai are best friends.” Matt: “No we’re not!”

Score: 7/10.

Chapter 5: Coexistence

Lots of Meichi . . . and Meiko being the best she’s ever been (or ever going to be). This is the only movie she didn’t come across as a useless wet blanket. And I did really like the Meichi heart-to-heart because it was actually well written. Do I ship Meichi though? No, I don’t think so. Even though they “connected” in this movie, it still seems a bit too forced and abrupt to me and it just wasn’t enough. Plus, I really don’t know why Tai would be attracted to her . . . I think he’d be attracted to girls like Mimi.

There’s a quick scene where Matt refuses to talk to his mum on the phone. My heart, it aches. Why couldn’t tri. show him ACCEPTING the phone call? That would’ve been a neat personal growth thing for Matt, coming off of Adventure, you know? I guess they just prefer him being closed off to his mum for life . . . it’s realistic, but still sad.

I really liked Matt yelling in emotional frustration because Meicoomon needs to be sacrificed (at Tai’s insistence). That’s the first time tri. got the Matt/Tai roles right so far? Oh . . . it’s because Tai’s storyline (his “character growth”) is FINALLY starting to get resolved. You know, him reverting back to the way he always was and being the capable leader who can call shots like that? Yeah. So when their roles go back to normal, everything MAKES SENSE again.

Wow, isn’t that incredible, tri.? That the characters now seem authentic and “right” now that you’ve decided to SWITCH THEIR ROLES BACK? Amazing.

But Matt putting Tai’s goggles around his neck = ICONIC.

That’s his brief consolation prize for being the ACTUAL leader for four and a half movies. Fuck you, tri..

But my issue with Tai’s storyline – other than the effects it had on Matt and Tai’s characterisation – also has to do with bad writing from more of a writer’s perspective (in that perhaps the average viewer wouldn’t have a problem with it).

I hate “undeserving” leaders in fiction (see: Luther from The Umbrella Academy).

Let me explain.

My favourite leaders in fiction (the best leaders I’ve ever seen) are Taichi from Adventure, Leonardo from Nickelodeon’s TMNT, and Rick Grimes from The Walking Dead. Why?

Because the writing showed you through actions why those characters were the most capable at being the leader. It doesn’t just point a finger at one character and go, “There! Leader! Always!”

Good writing shows you why a character is a good leader through their actions.

Bad writing just “designates” one character as the leader (just because the title “belongs” to them), and no matter their actions, they will always be regarded as the leader simply because the writer wanted that character to be the leader.

And tri. unfortunately does the latter. For most of the series, tri. shows Matt as the most capable leader – but because Tai is simply DESIGNATED the leader (that is, no matter what happens, Tai IS THE CHOSEN LEADER just because he’s the main character) – the series needed to get Tai back to his leadership mantle that has his name permanently etched on it.

I hate that.

And this isn’t a “Matt should’ve been the leader because he’s my favourite character” thing. It really isn’t. I personally never cared about Matt being the leader, because Adventure showed me that Matt was too emotional to be the leader. And he is. In fact, someone tagged me in a post a few months back where they quoted something I’d never seen before: it was Koushirou in the Digimon Adventure novels POINT BLANK telling Yamato that he was too emotional to be the leader. I laughed, because I love it when the series justifies my opinions in actual dialogue.

Anyway, I've always thought that Matt is too emotional to be the leader and never cared that he isn’t the leader. However . . . tri. told me in the first four and a half movies that Matt is NOT too emotional to be the leader. In fact, tri. told me that Matt’s perfectly capable of being the leader – and MORE capable of it than Tai was in those first four movies.

So, my issue is, if you’re going to show me that Matt is the better leader, then . . . MAKE HIM THE LEADER? You don’t “need” Tai to be the leader; he was utterly useless for the first four and a half movies.

But oh, that’s right; because Tai is the DESIGNATED LEADER, no matter what is shown (ie. Matt being the better leader), tri. has to revert back to Tai being the capable leader.

That’s bad, forced writing.

You should NEVER give the audience the impression that someone is the leader “just because” that title belongs to them in the series. Remember, SHOW ME the actual leader through their actions (ie. that is Matt in tri.) instead of just shoving it down my throat that there is “one true leader” that the writing must get back to, regardless of how incapable that person was.

Matt constantly tries to wake Tai the fuck up to lead in tri., but . . . Why? Matt is doing a perfectly good job of being the leader. There is NO need for Tai to step up and be the leader if he isn’t capable of it. If you can’t lead, STEP DOWN. The leader should never come across as being “designated” – they should always come across as the leader through their actions. And in tri.’s case, that was Matt.

Of course, we can’t have Matt be the leader when Tai is the main character of Digimon, can we?

But my stance is, if that is the case, tri. never should have showed us Matt was better at leading than Tai in the first place. Because it comes across to viewers as Tai just being the “designated leader” simply because the writing said so . . . and that, as stated, is bad writing.

My point is: the role-reversal never should have happened.

(And it’s only when Tai disappears that we suddenly get shown that Matt wouldn’t lead as well, so that we now think -- at the end of the series -- that Tai needs to make a heroic return and be the leader, despite it being shown earlier that he was useless . . . Yeah, fuck you, tri..)

Score: 6.5/10.

Chapter 6: Future

I’m still not here for Matt “learning a lesson” from Tai. Again, the writing for this is extremely bad and contradictory.

So, basically, Matt “realises” what Tai’s perspective is (his entire issue in the first movie) and NOW understands it . . .

Except, you know, the perspective Tai had was ALWAYS Matt’s perspective BEFORE tri. started. They just role-reversed their perspectives, so you have a REALLY BAD situation where Matt realises HIS OWN PAST PERSPECTIVE . . . is the lesson he “finally” learnt at the end of tri..

Matt changed into Tai (although tri. insists that MATT NEVER CHANGED AT ALL), but throughout the course of the series – THROUGH TAI’S EXAMPLE OF BEING MORE LIKE MATT HIMSELF – Matt realises his old views (Tai’s CURRENT views) made sense, and . . . acknowledges that Tai has a point/understands what Tai means now.

That’s Matt’s “character growth” by being Tai’s foil – being taught a lesson from Tai that Matt himself has always known.

Seriously, tri.?

It’s so incredibly lame and contradictory and just incredibly bad writing.

My biggest issue with tri. (if you hadn’t noticed) was the role-reversal of Matt and Tai. Other people can justify it all they want, but it was close to character assassination to me. Matt was 80% Matt, and Tai was . . . like, 50% Tai. Yeah, I disliked Tai for half the series.

An easy “litmus test”: If tri. had simply reversed Matt and Tai’s roles – so Matt is the one super concerned about collateral damage to the point where he freezes up, and Tai is the one being aggressive and insists Matt stops acting like a pussy – no one would’ve batted an eyelid. Because that would’ve been 100% in-character and make the most sense of what those two characters would’ve done in that predicament.

But, of course, because Tai’s the actual main character of Digimon, and this collateral damage dilemma (which is a good idea to explore, mind you) was their chosen issue, they forced it onto Tai – which also affected Matt as his foil. And thus, a lot of people had issues with what it did to Tai and Matt’s characterisation. Again, thank god Kizuna righted tri.’s wrong.

Also, I have to bring this up even though I’m sure everyone and their pet fish has complained about this: The whole 02 thing is insanely bad writing. They “went missing a long time ago” and Tai and co. DIDN’T NOTICE OR CARE? Like, seriously tri., it’s not that hard to come up with a better way to get them out of the series. It’s incredibly stupid that Tai was having issues with collateral damage potentially killing strangers, while his OLD FRIENDS were missing the entire time and they had no idea where they were, but then to suddenly CARE that they were finally found in the last movie?

Just, the logic, there is none. “Oh, we forgot about them completely . . . but, now that you mention it, we’re super glad they’re safe!” Seriously. You’re asking too much of the audience to make up excuses for you. I personally don’t care about the 02 kids at all, but the handling of it was definitely one of the biggest fails in tri.. They could have written them out A LOT better.

It’s also jarring when, in Kizuna, the 02 kids are back in the fold like they’ve never left. Tri. makes it seem as though they lost touch/aren’t close friends, because they hardly care and their reactions to “Ken” makes it seem as though he’s almost a stranger to them. But Kizuna feels as thought it comes STRAIGHT after 02, because it feels like they’ve always been a tight group (read: it really feels like Kizuna ignored tri. completely).

Score: 5.5/10.

Final Thoughts

I did it! I finished rewatching tri. (technically my first viewing of the English dub)! YAY!

I mostly still feel the same way about the series on a rewatch that I originally did. I think the biggest change of opinion for me was that I liked Maki a lot more than I did when I was just watching it in the instalments with months between films. I’m pretty sure it’s because I didn’t know her character at all as I was seeing it all for the first time, so it’s easy to be quick to judge -- but now that I knew her entire character arc, I actually got to appreciate her. But her storyline still could’ve ended A LOT better – but that’s really my only criticism of it. She was a great character.

I think it would’ve been a lot better to configure Maki into “Meiko” and have her infiltrate the Chosen Children and be a villain “from the inside”. I don’t think Meiko should have existed at all, and I think the reason tri. didn’t “hit” for most fans stems from the existence of such a poor character as Meiko being central to the plot (and thus having all of the terribly written things that happen in tri., happen in tri. . . .)

I think tri. was going to get a sequel but, because it wasn’t as well-received as they’d hoped (lots of criticisms of it . . .), they dropped it and made Kizuna instead. I really think that’s what happened.

I’m glad though because I LOVED Yamato in Kizuna. He was straight from Adventure/02. He was completely in-character in Kizuna and STILL managed to show the audience that HE HAD GROWN. See tri., it’s really not that hard to do.

Sometimes, it’s hard to put into words what exactly is “wrong” with a character. (Though I tried to explain it . . .) Sometimes, you just have to “see” a character and the “vibe” they give off isn’t quite that of the character you know.

That’s what happened with Tai and Matt’s characters in tri. for me. But the “vibe” of their characters in Kizuna came across as 100% authentically them, straight from Adventure/02, BUT GROWN UP.

You just “know” the characters when you see them. It’s the little nuances in their characterisations, lines of dialogue, their actions and reactions, and you just recognise the characters as them. And that’s from knowing who they are from past series (Adventure/02). Kizuna got Yamato and Taichi 100% right.

I’m going to put 17-year-old tri. Matt down to teenage hormones. Sora was withholding sex from him and so he had a huge amount of pent-up aggression. Yeah. *cough*

I am glad tri. exists though, because I got to see Matt at 11, 14, 17 and 22. And that’s amazing.

Best Characters

Matt (despite having issues with 20% of him, he still ultimately came across as the “star” of tri. to me), T.K. and . . . *gasp* Maki. Yeah. Seriously, she was actually one of the best written characters. Such a shame about how tri. chose to close her story.

Honourable Mentions

Mimi and Sora. Izzy and Joe. (Everyone but the Yagami siblings? Lmao)

Worst Character

Meiko. By a long shot. I honestly have no idea how anyone could like her (and are not just indifferent to her) . . . but I think, like, three people do.

Scores / Ranking

Chapter 1: Reunion �� 5/10. Terrible. Chapter 2: Determination – 6/10. OK. Chapter 3: Confession – 8.5/10. Excellent. Chapter 4: Loss – 7/10. Good. Chapter 5: Coexistence – 6.5/10. Good-ish. Chapter 6: Future – 5.5/10. Terrible.

I had more issues with the bad writing decisions in Future than Reunion, but a lot more happens in Future, while Reunion is just boring. So . . . I guess Future is better than Reunion – but just. My ranking of the films now (best to worst):

Chapter 3: Confession Chapter 4: Loss Chapter 5: Coexistence Chapter 2: Determination Chapter 6: Future Chapter 1: Reunion

Conclusion

Overall, Digimon Adventure tri. is a pretty average series. I liked it enough, but there were giant leaps in logic and small, sometimes huge, bad writing decisions that could’ve been avoided or done a lot better with very little effort. The quality of a series depends on ALL the parts working: having good characters, good storytelling, stellar attention to detail, great adherence to logic so that the audience aren’t taken out of the experience. This is where tri. fails, because if you have a lot of those moments, it really does lower the quality of your story to your audience, who will get tired of constantly having to suspend their disbelief.

But, despite all of its flaws, tri. did give us the best Digimon movie ever made (Confession), so . . . Yay? I’ll take it.

If you were to directly compare Adventure and tri., I think you would say that tri. had better writing overall. And I would agree. But comparing them directly isn’t fair. Why? Because Adventure was made for kids, and tri. was made for adults. And here’s the thing:

Digimon Adventure is an excellent children’s series.

Digimon Adventure tri. is an average adult series.

Sure, a lot of dumb things happen in Adventure, but you can give it a pass because it’s a “kids show”. Overall, it was still an excellent series for kids, so much so that parts of it still holds up even when you view it as an adult with better critical thinking. That’s amazing.

Tri. is the better written series when directly compared but, well, it had to be. Its writing was better because it was aimed at adults, which naturally just lifts the ceiling that Adventure had to be aware of from being aimed at kids. But tri.’s many instances of bad writing isn’t as easily forgivable, as it is aimed at adults, so when it’s dumb . . . it’s just really dumb.

So, even though tri. is technically better written overall, I still think Adventure is actually the better series. How is that possible? Well, if someone asked you to recommend a good children’s show, you’d definitely say, “Digimon Adventure”. But if someone asked you to recommend a good series, you would NOT say, “Digimon Adventure tri.” At least, I wouldn’t.

And that’s it! Well done if you’ve made it to the end. I don’t think I will ever write about tri. again. See you in the next post about the Digimon Adventure: 2020 reboot series. :)

#digimon #digimon adventure #digimon adventure 02 #digimon adventure tri #digimon tri #digimon adventure last evolution kizuna #review #tri thoughts #english dub #chosen children #taichi yagami #yamato ishida #analysis #?#just my very long thoughts on the issues i had with their characterisation

27 notes · View notes

nyctolovian · 4 years

Note

(i already tried to sent this message so apologies if I seem overbearing I swear it's just to make sure tumblr isn't eating anons again) Hello! I love how you write and I would love a "hiding an injury" for dororo, possibly with Dororo being the one injured

@badthingshappenbingo

Hi! Sorry for the delay! I received your first ask oops but i just needed some time to get used to writing dororo (this is my first time for this fandom after all). I hope this is fine?

Trope: Hiding an Injury

Fandom: Dororo (2019)

ao3 link

First Red

Hyakkimaru was strangely obsessed with naming colours lately but with how he reacted to getting his senses back previously, Dororo wasn't surprised. However, that didn't make it any less annoying to her when he pointed at a flower for the hundredth time that day and asked, "Dororo, is this red?"

"This is the first time he's able to see, right?" Genjirou asked, laughing. "I think we should let him have his moment."

Dororo sighed loudly as she looked at her Aniki squatting on the floor and scrutinising the flower closely. She still couldn't help her annoyance. The three of them were on the way back to the refugee village from getting her father's hidden treasure, of which they each carried a bag. So they had a ton of valuable stuff. With the war increasingly taking a toll on Daigo's land, who knows how many people are desperate to get this treasure in their hands?

It was a good thing Genjirou was around to help as well. There was literally no way Dororo and Hyakkimaru could drag this much stuff back to the village. According to the other refugees, Genjirou was a trusted friend and one of their strongest men. So far, they were proven to be right.

The unforeseen troublemaker was none other than Hyakkimaru himself. He was constantly pulled away by different sights, and when they were out of Daigo's land and were seeing more beautiful things like green hills and colourful flower fields, Dororo completely lost her Aniki to those distractions.

To make matters worse, however… She gripped her robe tighter to herself.

While trying to get the treasure, she had slipped while trying to climb the pile and gotten a nick from a bejeweled dagger (why on earth was that even there?!) on her back. She had deliberately stood where the other two couldn't see her back until the sun set and she was safe to mend her clothes and patch herself up.

It really should have been a simple affair with the injury being so shallow. She started the next day without a thought about the wound but it was starting to burn and twinge under her clothing. She couldn't see the wound no matter how she twisted her body but when she reached back to touch it, it wasn't a lot of blood. She knew immediately what it was. Years spent around bandits had taught her this meant her wound was infected.

Usually, she wouldn't mind just fixing the wound herself but, unlike previously, Hyakkimaru could now see exactly what she was doing and she'd have to explain herself, which she'd really rather not do. It would be pathetic to admit to Hyakkimaru that she got the wound from a stupid fall.

But there was an even bigger reason why she's not doing that: Genjirou would see her.

Aniki already knew she was a girl. Somehow or another, blind as he was back then, he still managed to figure out she was a girl. But Hyakkimaru was not a blather mouth so it was fine. Who else can he tell things to anyway?

Genjirou on the other hand… He was popular in the village, and he was talkative. In this trip alone, Dororo had learned more about Genjirou and the other refugees than she had in the week she spent with them before heading out.

There was no way she was letting him find out she was a girl.

So she kept her mouth shut. As the day dragged on, her wound throbbed away, draining her energy bit by bit.

***

The mid-day sun was blazing above the travelling group, and the sweltering weather was already unbearable, yet somehow, Dororo's wound felt hotter still, swelling to a worrying throb. Even the tiniest movement on her part would set her robe scratching agonisingly against her raw flesh.

She had also drunk quite a bit of water but somehow she still felt endlessly parched. Maybe it was because of how she panted with each and every exhausting step she took. Her chest was heaving and it occasionally stuttered, giving way to fatigue for a second before starting again.

Things were uncomfortable to say the least. In fact, Dororo was lightheaded and feverish with pain. She just hoped she'd make it through today and get some much needed rest.

"Dororo…"

Her eyes snapped up to look at her Aniki's brown ones. It was still slightly weird not to see wooden eyes when she looked at her Aniki.

"Are you alright? Your face is… white."

Playfully, Dororo rolled her eyes. "Putting your new words to use so quickly?" she teased in an attempt to dodge the question.

Hyakkimaru with his eyes back was far more expressive than he used to be. Right now, there was the slightest tinge of pride in his eyes. However, that was quickly replaced again with worry. "There is something wrong."

"What is?" Genjirou asked as he slowed his pace to match the other two.

Internally, Dororo groaned.

"Dororo looks very white."

"Oh right, he does," Genjirou said as he knelt down and held her by the shoulders. "Are you feeling ill?"

Scowling, Dororo shoved him and backed away. As she did, a wave of nausea overcame her and she had to take a few moments to compose herself as the feeling faded slowly away. "I'm fine," she said as nonchalantly as possible. "Just a little tired."

"Should we rest?" Genjirou suggested. "You are a child after all. Of course you would be tired."

A wave of anger surged through Dororo. "No need," she snapped as she tossed her bag from one shoulder to the other. She felt a sharp pain on her back and valiantly held back a wince. "Let's continue walking."

She marched on without them. Compliantly, the other two followed behind. However, as they continued on, Dororo could feel her feet beginning to drag harder and harder against the sand, nearly tripping several times in the uneven ground. Several times, she caught her eyelids closed for at least 5 seconds, and sometimes she would feel her stomach lurch with the urge to puke. But she kept it in and trudged on.

Suddenly, Hyakkimaru let out a barely audible gasp that hitched on his throat. "Dororo," he said, catching up with her. "There's red on your shirt."

She looked down at her side. Sure enough, there was a dark patch on her green robe. The wound must have burst open with her excessive movement.

Genjirou yelled, "That's blood!"

The look of alarm on Hyakkimaru's face was strange. He rushed forward and his trembling hands hovered over Dororo, not daring to touch her as he just looked at the patch of dark dark red seeping through her shirt.

It was then that it occurred to Dororo that he had probably never seen blood before. How ironic to have so much blood upon your hands but only just seeing it for the first time.

"Look, I'm fine. This is nothing big," Dororo said.

"Let me take a look at that," Genjirou said, reaching over.

Immediately, she slapped the hand away. "No!" Her vision began to blackout but she held her gaze in place in a feign. Her vision returned in spots and she realised she was swaying dangerously.

Silently, Hyakkimaru touched Dororo's forehead with his hand. His cool palms shook ever so slightly. "You are warm," he said. "You're not okay."

"I'm fine!" she insisted as she pulled away from the other two and charged ahead. However, as she walked, she tripped on thin air and suddenly the world was beginning to tilt violently to the side. Her sight went dark even as she felt herself fall and hit the ground. The ground vibrated as loud footsteps came towards her.

She opened her mouth to insist that she was fine. But her consciousness faded as she heard Hyakkimaru's panicked voice call out her name.

#dororo #bad things happen bingo #hyakkimaru #fanfic #my writing #dororo 2019 #angst #i guess #request #anon

9 notes · View notes