#i don’t hate ken or even how 02 went really i just think there’s missed potential for something better

[beepmon]

i really hate how i see ken get woobified down a lot by the fandom and even in the show just bc oh no he was just processed he’s actually just a sweet bean capable of no harm and i just don’t think that’s true like the dark seed mostly just makes you the worst version of yourself and in a more meta pov it’s about how his grief and inferiority complex let him harbor a really toxic mindset bc he felt isolated and how even the kindest people can become abusers and that a lot of his redemption arc could’ve been handled a bit better of him actually making more amends rather than wormon and daisuke instantly forgiving him. how do you deradicalize yourself? how do you reconnect to your inner kindness after the world turned you cruel?

that’s why i like ioris interaction with ken a lot bc iori is the character that makes ken take a hard look at himself but in a constructive way. it’s not the version of himself that wanted to die after looking at his crimes but the version of himself that is being held accountable by the character that cares most about justice and authenticity.

[jippy-kandi]

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna Movie Review

I've seen the film. It was pretty good! Spoilers under the cut.

So, before I watched it, I did read a few bits and pieces of random spoilers. However, I did NOT read the novel – because I wanted to judge the film on its own merits and not be thinking about “what the novel did better”. But I knew things like most characters were sidelined, who the villain was, and how the movie ends. I still have not read the novel.

This is not a “proper” review of the movie -- because what’s the fun in that? You can google actual reviews of the movie by anime websites, if that’s what you’re after. These are just my personal thoughts, impressions and fangirl ramblings (I bias Yamato hard). Plus, a few comments from two others I went to the screening with for a different perspective.

It was like nerd city at the movie theatre, LOL. So. Many. Nerds. Some people even brought Digimon plush toys to the screening! I’ve never witnessed that before. It was great though, being surrounded by so many Digimon fans. I think the cinema was more than half full -- and this was an 800-seat cinema! 400+ Digimon fans? Whoa! I actually thought like only 20 people would show up, LOL.

I tried to put the following thoughts in “order” but some of it isn’t due to the nature of what they’re about . . . plus, I couldn’t 100% remember what order the scenes were in.

Screen time distribution (most to least): Taichi/Yamato, Koushirou, the 02 kids (roughly: Takeru, Hikari, Daisuke, Miyako, Ken, Iori), Mimi, Jou, a hamburger, a whistle, a beer, Sora. (Sora got shafted hard.)

Taichi was exactly just Taichi, which is 1000x better than tri. Taichi. He really did seem like a 22-year-old version of Adventure Taichi, beer-drinking and porn-watching and all. Thank you, Toei. Please don’t fuck him up in the reboot. (Although maybe that’s the idea?)

Yamato is the coolest motherfucker on a motorcycle. He looked SO DAMN GOOD in this movie. There were even a few gratuitous shots of his arse for no apparent reason, LOL. Or maybe that’s just me thinking, whenever he’s bending over or his back’s to us, “That’s a nice arse.” XD (HE IS THE ONLY 2D CHARACTER I THIRST FOR, I PROMISE. I’m actually engaged to Jungkook of BTS.)

Koushirou was the same old Koushirou we all know and love, doing smart stuff and generally being useful. He has no pointed interest in clothes or girls (Koumi began and died in tri., you guys). When it was shown that he was a company president, some people in the audience laughed, lol.

Takeru was pretty bland. I guess tri. Takeru will always be the definitive Takeru to me. This Takeru definitely evolved straight from 02 Takeru (who was also bland AF). But he was fine? I miss overly confident, charming Takeru. Also, where was your crush on your big bro??? lol

Hikari . . . was also fine? I don’t have much to say about her. I like tri. Hikari better (because she was cute? *shallow*). This Hikari was just serviceable. I think because everyone really is just playing second fiddle to Taichi and Yamato, they didn’t really add charms to the other characters. They just . . . serve the plot. And it seemed, at the beginning of the movie, that Takeru and Hikari were going to be in it a lot -- but they have most of their scenes in the first third-ish of the movie before disappearing until the end.

Daisuke was also exactly the same. But I’ve never been a fan of him, nor do I hate him (though he did get on my nerves in 02 sometimes . . .). I just don’t care about him, or any of the 02 kids, personally. :P

I don’t think Ken had a personality in this movie, LOL. He was fine, though. Serviceable. I’m sorry I lack opinions here, but there really wasn’t much to go on. He has no Kaiser issues or anything, he just seems like a normal, well-adjusted kid . . . with no personality, lol.

Iori didn’t have a personality either -- but everyone has always known that. Ha! XP He is just an extra reading lines. I found it odd that he seems so short though? I kept thinking he was still a 9-year-old because of the height difference between him and the others . . . I think Toei forgot that HE IS 17 AND THUS SHOULD BE VERY CLOSE TO FULL ADULT HEIGHT. Puberty is amazing, Toei! (Yeah, he can just be a really short person, I know. I wouldn’t have made that design choice, though. Especially when he’s short compared to Daisuke . . . who is short compared to Yamato . . . and Iori really is a midget.)

Miyako . . . it’s probably due to her voice actress, but she was SO LOUD. And I found her annoying because of it. In fact, she was the only annoying character in the movie to me. Loud people can be charming . . . but I didn’t find her charming. Sorry, Miyako fans. =\

Mimi has an e-commerce startup at 21, lol. OK, you go girl. She was definitely shafted, but she was in it a bit more than Jou I think, and definitely more than poor Sora. Probably a few minutes? Yeah, not a lot, especially compared to Taichi and Yamato. In one of her (four?) scenes, she loses consciousness and ends up in the hospital -- and Taichi, Koushirou and Jou are in her hospital room when Yamato bursts in and goes, “Jou!” You know, instead of acknowledging Mimi, THE COMATOSE FRIEND IN THE HOSPITAL BED. I just found it funny that’s how they chose to frame that scene. :P

Jou only had a few lines, but he was still in it more than Sora. But he is really just a doctor here. He could’ve been an extra hired for a doctor role and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, lol. Oh, Toei, please give all the characters almost-equal screen time in the reboot? Please???

Sora had like four lines and thirty seconds of screen time, TOTAL. I think the decision to hold her back from THE ENTIRE PLOT was SOLELY to have the scene where she reacts to Taichi blowing the whistle, so you know that the sound is going out of Neverland and reaching the real world (or whatever dramatic effect they were going for). I really think that’s it. That, or her voice actress did something terrible to Toei and they’re punishing her. :P

The movie basically opens up with Parrotmon attacking. Takeru was the first to be shown, then Hikari, then Taichi. Taichi is wearing those special goggles Koushirou made for him and he looked goofy AF lol. At one point, Greymon tackles Parrotmon into a building where you see some people inside running away from the rubble. My sister said (without knowing anything about tri.): “Does Tai not care that his digimon definitely just killed some people in that building?” I chuckled because . . . well. ;)

Yamato enters the scene COOL AS FUCK on his motorcycle (most of his entrance is shown in a clip that Toei released) and thank you Toei for doing that for him. He deserves a showy entrance. :) Although I do find it funny that he’s obsessed with motorcycles, given I still remember giggling as a kid at him NOT liking riding on the back of some guy’s scooter in Digimon: The Movie.

The music was nice and nostalgic and I have no complaints.

There is a quick scene of Yamato seeing a kid in a music store getting a harmonica, and watching a street performer singing. Obviously he’s thinking about his passion for music as a kid/teen (and his childhood in general?) and it was a nice touch. I think by the end of the movie you would’ve understood that Yamato was letting go of his past (childhood) and heading towards the future (adulthood).

A friend of Yamato’s makes a comment to him that Japan’s Self-Defense Forces are going to recruit him into the military due to his experience as a Chosen Child. Yamato replies, “that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard”. BUT . . . this is Kizuna telling you EXACTLY what is going to happen, lol. I actually “predicted” Yamato’s career path years ago -- but it wasn’t hard, as there is really only two ways it could’ve gone, lol. Military test pilot or commercial air pilot -- which one, especially given the context Kizuna just gave us, is more likely? ;)

Yamato is shown wearing GLASSES in class (looking nerd-hot AF). Toei Animation must not have researched Yamato’s astronaut career as intensively as I did, and therefore did not know that astronauts need 20/20 vision lol. Oh well, he can get it corrected. :p (Or, he doesn’t actually need glasses but WEARS THEM AS A FASHION STATEMENT. Because I can believe that. XD)

I think Yamato had about three different outfits in the movie? And he looked good in all of them. Are there people out there who think he’s not fashionable? I'd find that opinion strange, given the fact that the staff behind 02 and tri. were actively designing him as the well-dressed cool guy of the group. He wears exactly the kind of clothes the well-dressed cool guys at my high school/university wore. Sure, sometimes they force green tops on him purely for nostalgic reasons and it therefore clashes -- there is only so much you can do with a green top -- but overall, he is supposed to come across as someone who cares about his appearance. If you don’t think so, you’re either not into fashion or you aren’t aware of 2005-2010 fashion as a teen/young adult. (If Yamato was a millionaire, I’m sure he’d dress identical to BTS with super expensive clothes lol. But he dresses very well for a “normal” person. :p)

Taichi was shown with two of his friends who were asking him about his aspirations or something, and the guy looked like an unattractive nerd. My sister said: “I didn’t like how they showed Tai with sloppy friends, but showed Matt with good-looking people.” LOL. Her favourite as a kid was Taichi, BTW. XD;

Menoa and Imura were . . . OK characters. Menoa seemed likeable enough at first, but when her real intentions were revealed she turned into a typical, crazy, possessed villain. Imura was really just there to service the plot, like a necessary extra on set. There was nothing more to him.

Menoa’s English is terrible. And it’s very noticeable because she inserts random English words into her Japanese sentences, lol. I laughed when Koushirou told her that her Japanese is very good (because SHE IS ACTUALLY FLUENT IN JAPANESE . . . and not so much in English). Yes, I know it’s because it’s a Japanese voice actress -- but it was still funny every time she spoke heavily accented English, followed by fluent Japanese. :P

Menoa’s partner digimon, Morphomon, was cute in design. Eosmon was the villain digimon and was Menoa’s attempt at recreating Morphomon, who disappeared on her. Does this sound kind of familiar? lol

Omegamon devolves into Koromon and Tsunomon when fighting against Eosmon. Back in Koushirou’s office, Menoa explains that you only have a limited amount of time with your digimon before they disappear and that fighting accelerates it. Taichi has a circle of lights on his digivice that lose a bar of light every time he fights with Agumon. When the lights all disappear, Agumon will disappear. Koushirou and Takeru look at their digivices to check if they’ve got it – they don’t, and they are relieved. Yamato then checks his and . . . well. He has it. His eyes start watering and he storms out of the room saying something along the lines of his bond with Gabumon will not be broken. I FUCKING LOVED THIS SCENE. Top 3 in the movie for me, personally. We all have weaknesses. Emo Yamato is mine, lol. I like it when he gets so emotional he cries in front of other people. :3

The “porn stash” scene with Agumon at Taichi’s apartment was HILARIOUS. The funniest scene of the movie. Everyone in the cinema laughed so hard. It was Taichi’s reaction that sold it -- it was BRILLIANT. The magazines actually had girls on the cover wearing bikinis, so, at least Agumon kept his innocence! lol

Gennai randomly appears in Taichi’s apartment to confirm the thing everyone should’ve always known (but that they just made up for Kizuna and which DEFINITELY led to “creative differences” with Digimon series director Hiroyuki Kakudou). This, of course, would be the whole idea that the more you “grow up”, the more your bond with your partner digimon breaks until, eventually, they disappear. Does the idea have problems? Yep. Menoa lost her partner digimon Morphomon at age 14 because she decided to accelerate her learning and go to university . . . meanwhile, Koushirou is the president of his own freaking company and still has Tentomon by his side. Yeah, OK, Kizuna. And, sure, you can argue that it’s about BECOMING AN ADULT -- but I think you’d just be drawing lines where YOU want to draw them. How mature is 14-year-old Menoa to be an “adult”? Is Koushirou really not mature enough at 21? And what about Jou, who I definitely think is an adult in all sense of the word? And so on. So arguments about this I think are valid, but at the same time . . . it’s Digimon. I think it’s a flawed idea but I also just shrug and accept it as it is, lol.

I “love” how Gennai just pops in when it’s convenient to the plot. Hello Gennai, what’s dark Gennai up to? Have you seen him around licking underaged girls anywhere? No? You’re just popping by to confirm shit to Taichi? OK, cool. See you in the tri. sequel, never. (He actually does give Taichi a reasonable answer as to why the growth/bond thing was never brought up before: that it’s like talking about how long you have to live. I bought it.)

Yamato is basically the reason the 02 kids are even in the movie, lol. He asks them to investigate Imura and Menoa for him and they do so. They contact him later on with info and they ask that he take them out for okonomiyaki (which is awful by the way, lol) as thanks and he smiles and says he can do that. This is just a nice exchange between them. :)

Yamato eventually confronts Imura (or is it the other way around, lol) and Imura HAS A GUN. Which was surprising to me because I remember that in the English dub, Puppetmon’s gun was censored, so seeing a gun in a Digimon movie was a little surprising. Anyway, Yamato doesn’t seem concerned by the fact that this dude can just shoot him dead, lol. Gabumon is with him, but still. Imura can still kill you before Gabumon kills him, you know. XD But it’s all good because Imura turns out to be an undercover FBI agent who wants to arrest Menoa, THE REAL VILLAIN. I was spoiled with this so no surprise.

There is a scene where Yamato has his hand tenderly on Takeru’s face because he lost consciousness. It was sweet, but I would’ve liked it more if Takeru had more of a personality in the film so I could actually care about him, lol. Yamato’s such a caring big brother, though. :)

Yamato was perfect in this movie. PERFECT. I had a few issues with his characterisation in tri. (I think he was, overall, about 80% Yamato), but he was ALL YAMATO, ALL THE TIME here. He is my favourite fictional character of all time, so DEAL WITH THE BIAS. I love him and, honestly, Yamato>Taichi all day, every day. I totally understand you, Sora. DON’T @ ME TAICHI STANS. XP

The ONLY minor quibble I had was that Yamato asks Taichi if they should really try to save the other kids, because fighting means it speeds up their bonds breaking. My quibble is: YAMATO IS NOT FUCKING SELFISH. He’s SO selfless. He would fight to save the other kids NO QUESTIONS, even if it meant he’s accelerating the destruction of his bond with Gabumon. But I give this scene a huge pass because it basically had to go like that, because ONE person out of Taichi/Yamato had to be reluctant so that the OTHER person pushes forward and has a “hero” moment. And who’s going to get that “hero” moment? The actual hero and MAIN CHARACTER of Digimon, Taichi, of course. SO I GET IT. I even agree and would’ve written it that way too, for Taichi to be the leader and reassure Yamato that this is what they’re doing (unlike in tri. where Yamato 1000% deserved the mantle of LEADER and Taichi could’ve whinged off the edge of a cliff and I. WOULD. NOT. CARE.). BUT I will still rant about this 30 second scene in my blog and scream to the universe that Yamato Ishida is the most selfless fictional being on the face of the planet and you better fucking know it. :)

Menoa is Maki 2.0. As soon as Menoa is revealed as being behind the evil stuff, she is instantly psychotic. So Maki 2.0 she definitely is. But . . . I don’t really care. Could Toei have been more original? Yes. But I can’t be bothered to criticise them for recycling a plot, because I’d rather criticise tri. for doing it in the first place, LOL. OK, honestly? At least Menoa’s plot had an actual resolution, instead of Maki being revealed and then . . . fucking off out of the entire series so abruptly. Like??? Kizuna followed through with it, tri. did not. That’s why I’m OK with the rehash, because Kizuna did tri.’s plot better. (Maki’s plot would’ve been good if the tri. writers didn’t get lazy AF at the end and just . . . didn’t . . . finish it.) I might also be giving Kizuna a huge pass because it made me feel things, lol.

The movie really picks up after Menoa reveals her intentions and they end up in Neverland (a place she created in the Digital World?) where she claims all the Chosen Children can stay as children with their partner digimon forever. It became a lot more interesting after that. But that’s also near the climax, lol.

In Neverland, all the kids who have lost consciousness are in their child forms (from the first season) and are basically Menoa’s puppets. This was really cool; it not only gave you nostalgic feels to see them like that, but it was also pretty creepy to see them with glowing red eyes. The Chosen Children, as kids, attack Taichi and Yamato. I laughed when Patamon attacked Yamato’s face and Tentomon tackled Taichi, lol. But I have to say though that Sora’s absence was VERY glaring here. Because . . . everyone was there, but her. :(

Other Chosen Children from the past are present in Neverland too. I FREAKING SAW MICHAEL, MIMI’S AMERICAN FRIEND, STANDING BEHIND HER. I was so surprised at his appearance that I didn’t catch anyone else. There were definitely others, but I didn’t make them out at all because I was so caught off-guard with Michael. XD; (I DON’T EVEN GIVE A SHIT ABOUT HIM, LOL.)

Someone said that Taichi called out Meiko’s name in the movie . . . well, I’m pretty sure that Yamato does, and he calls her by her last name, “Mochizuki”. This is when they’re in Neverland and Menoa shows them her “collection” of Chosen Children. Meiko pops up for one second. It was like Kizuna went, “Oh! Hey, tri. existed by the way. Now let’s move on.” lol

While being attacked by the Chosen “puppets” in Neverland, Taichi manages to reach his hand out and grab Hikari’s whistle and blow it -- effectively “waking” them all up from their puppet states. Everyone in the cinema got hit with audible FEELS, because when Taichi blew Hikari’s whistle the screen flashbacked to that scene from the first movie. I found the collective audience reaction more powerful than the scene itself, lol. But I really liked it, too. :)

So while everyone else is in Neverland . . . SORA IS IN HER APARTMENT HUGGING PIYOMON. Thanks, Sora, you’re a real friend. *cough* After Taichi’s whistle blow, she intuitively knows what’s going on and says she believes in everyone . . . THANKS AGAIN, SORA, YOU CHEERLEADER. OK, look: I do think it is pretty selfish of Sora to choose not to fight. I understand all the reasoning behind it, I even think SHE DESERVES TO BE SELFISH FOR ONCE etc., and I am fine with it -- but I still think it’s selfish. Because it is. And that’s OK, nobody is perfect, and people are selfish from time to time. If only it wasn’t glaringly obvious that her selfishness happened only because Toei just wanted her out of the way for most of the film . . . her absence, as stated before, really was noticeable in scenes where literally everyone else was included but her. (I’d also just like to point out that her voice actress was STILL CREDITED THIRD after Taichi and Yamato in the ending credits. LOLing forever -- such little contribution, such big recognition. XD)

But don’t get me wrong, I love Sora. I really fucking do. Taichi used to be my second favourite character in Digimon for a long, long time -- but Sora managed to dethrone him from second place (fucking Yamato probably helped, LOL). I think, screen time-wise, Kizuna did her a bigger disservice than Our War Game did. Yes, let that sink in. Remember how little she was in that movie? It’s worse in Kizuna. But story-wise and character-wise? Kizuna probably did better, because Sora was angry over a hairclip in Our War Game lmao. If you haven’t already, check out her memorial story short “To Sora” that Toei Animation released online. It’s six minutes of Sora . . . which is 5 and a half more minutes than in Kizuna! XD;

There’s a scene where Agumon and Gabumon tell Taichi and Yamato that they like watching them grow up. It was very touching, but also very brief. It was one of my favourite moments though. It made me have quick flashbacks in my mind of itty bitty Taichi and Yamato growing up into who they are now. The enormity of everything they had been through since the first season. THE HISTORY. THE GROWTH. It hit me right in the feels.

Taichi and Yamato’s homoerotic-ness was actually toned down a lot, especially compared to tri.. They don’t have forced disputes where they get angry at each other and the gay sexual tension shoots through the roof. They’re just . . . friends. Two dudes who drink beer together and moan about their lives. The partnership between them and their digimon were the focus of the movie, more so than the friendship between them. I actually liked this, and I usually care more about the human connections over the human-digimon ones.

“Shipping moments” – if you squint hard enough. Takari: At the start, Takeru shields Hikari from harm. Sorato: While Taichi informs Yamato about the lives of some of the other Chosen Children, Yamato lets Taichi know what Sora is up to -- that she’s seriously studying flower arranging. Kenyako: Ken asks Miyako, and only Miyako, if she’s OK (when Daisuke is right next to her). Taiora: Sora says Taichi’s name when he blows the whistle in Neverland and she hears it all the way in the real world. (My sister legit whispered to me: “SHE DIDN’T SAY MATT’S NAME.” BITCH, he ain’t the one whistling! XP) Now, Digimon Adventure tri. shipbaited hard -- but Kizuna did not do this. All of these very small moments felt very organic and passed as if they were a natural part to the story, instead of something shoehorned in with the explicit purpose of shipbaiting. I really liked this approach. The Sorato one in particular (surprise, surprise) said a lot about Yamato’s relationship to Sora without being explicit about it. He knows what she’s up to when her childhood best friend doesn’t? Yeah, those two are definitely hooking up after classes. :P (I jest. But it does tell you with one sentence that Yamato and Sora keep in touch, which I appreciated. You gotta do that if you’re having babies together within the decade, you know?)

There were next to NO evolution sequences. I might remember it happening once or twice? Max. And . . . that was a REALLY lame choice. Especially when Agumon and Gabumon evolve to their newest forms; Taichi and Yamato are just floating with them up into the air and then, poof, the new evolutions are shown. Google tells me they’re just called Agumon -Bond of Courage- and Gabumon -Bond of Friendship- respectively . . . they were not named in the movie. Here’s the thing: I don’t really care about digimon and evolutions. But it was so underwhelming; they really should’ve amped it up with an evolution sequence to be like HERE BE THESE NEW AWESOME FUCKING DIGIMON ‘bout to kick your arse. It seems like such a no-brainer that I really don’t know who would sign off on a evolution sequence not happening. Oh well. As for the designs? They are OK, but definitely could’ve been better. I think “cool AF” when I see Omegamon and all his forms. I don’t think that of these new evolutions lol. (But my sister liked them and thought they looked cool, so . . .)

Also . . . the fighting scenes in this movie were pretty bad. Very underwhelming. Our War Game and Diablomon Strikes Back did a lot better. I both like and dislike the animation style in Kizuna. I do actually like the art of it, like how it looks. But I kinda dislike how it’s actually animated, because it doesn’t really look like they’re moving fluidly enough. It’s a bit too choppy. I just expected the fighting/action scenes to be more exciting (I was hoping Our War Game-level) and of a higher standard. But they are not, unfortunately.

Everyone in the cinema audibly GASPED when Taichi and Yamato were just talking to Agumon and Gabumon after the final battle, and then they turned around and they . . . just . . . disappeared. And then Taichi and Yamato CRIED. SO. HARD. And I actually started repeating in my head, DO NOT CRY, DO NOT CRY, lol. I didn’t cry! Almost, though. :p I really loved this scene. And I really think, narratively, it would’ve worked A LOT better for the movie to end on this scene. The actual ending scene that comes after it felt a little too out of place and tacked on to me. More on that later.

There was a small smattering of applause at the end of the movie, lol. But I did not clap, because I find that weird. :p (Even though I clapped, alone in my house, when Parasite won Best Picture at the Oscars LOL.)

The ending credits showed different photos of the kids. Unfortunately, I . . . don’t really remember most of them. XD; I think I saw Sora arranging flowers? And maybe Daisuke and Ken having dinner? I definitely saw Iori doing kendo, because I thought it was cool. And the one photo I definitely remember for sure: Yamato standing in front of a space shuttle. I stan astronaut!Yamato so hard, you guys have no idea how happy it made me that he’s pursuing his dream omfg my little baby boy. XD;

This is definitely Taichi and Yamato’s movie. Everyone else is just playing supporting/cameo roles -- some more than others, as outlined way above. (Well, except Menoa I suppose . . . and Koushirou to the extent that he’s just needed to be the Digi IQ.) But if you’re NOT a fan of either Taichi or Yamato? I think, though you’ll probably love all the nostalgia bits, you’ll also be really disappointed -- especially considering this is supposed to be the final instalment of the original Adventure continuity. It’s a great “love letter” to Taichi and Yamato specifically, but not for the other characters, sadly.

I saw the movie with my sister (a non-fan who used to like it as a kid) and a friend (a casual fan now, but she used to like it a lot years ago). I’ll refer to them as “S”(ister) and “F”(riend), respectively.

After the movie ended:

S: “Did you cry? Because two guys beside me were literally sobbing. SOBBING.” *Judging.* (LMAO.)

What was our favourite part of the movie?

Top 3 scenes for me were Yamato storming off with his eyes watering when he realises his bond with Gabumon has an expiry; the brief “speech” Agumon and Gabumon give to Taichi and Yamato about wanting to see them grow up; and Taichi and Yamato crying at Agumon and Gabumon vanishing. EMO EMO EMO.

S: “Sora doing fuck-all.” (LMAO.) F: “Yeah! What was up with that? It’s like they forgot she even existed.” S: “Sora is just a cunt.” (Note: S has a dry sense of humour and isn’t really being malicious. BUT . . . I do think most viewers watching Kizuna would have a poor opinion of Sora in this movie . . .)

F: “I liked the 02 kids. I guess it was mostly Davis. And I liked when Veemon was riding on Armadillomon’s back and Wormmon was trailing behind. It was just this random thing but it was funny. Maybe I just like making fun of Wormmon.”

About the idea that growing up affects your bond with your digimon:

S: “What I took from it was that you shouldn’t grow up too fast. Cherish your childhood, cherish your memories. But, eventually, you do need to grow up.”

F: “I don’t understand how this whole “Digimon disappear when you grow up” thing wasn’t known. Weren’t there older people with Digimon before? You’d think they could have made a more specific threat that was just affecting their digimon, not be like, “Yeah this happens to everyone, it’s just a fact of life that we’ve never addressed before.” It felt a bit like they were telling the audience to grow up and get over Digimon.”

What would we rate the film?

I probably have to watch it again to give a definitive score, but at the moment, I give it about a 7/10. It was good, but not great. The last half was pretty great though -- it definitely started out slow (there was a lot of exposition via Menoa vomiting words). Is it better than tri.? Chapter 3: Confession, no. Confession is better, I think, but I also haven’t seen it in years. But the rest of tri.? Probably. Especially the pile of shit that was Chapter 6: Our Future. *cough*

S: “4/10.″ (LOL.)

F: “It was better than tri.. I guess a 7/10 too.”

Sequel?

I think it’s definitely a possibility. I feel like the very last scene of the movie was slapped on just to be like, “Well, if we don’t do a sequel, you know that Taichi and Yamato are definitely going to reunite with their partners eventually for the 02 epilogue to happen.” The scene is of Taichi and Yamato saying something along the lines of meeting Agumon and Gabumon again one day.

And while it’s an uplifting ending, I actually think the movie would’ve ended better with the scene before that -- with the digimon disappearing and Taichi and Yamato crying. It would’ve made a bigger emotional impact and raised the movie up just a notch higher to end on such a ballsy note. But, of course, it would’ve meant a sequel definitely had to happen. So the actual final scene was added on so that a sequel doesn’t need to be made -- but that it leads to the 02 epilogue “off-camera”, in case they really don’t do a sequel.

I think there’s a 50/50 chance of a sequel. The movie actually does close the Adventure story pretty well -- it has all the ingredients to lead to the 02 epilogue without actually taking you there. But it also keeps the possibility of a sequel open, where they can show you exactly how Taichi and Yamato reunite with their digimon.

And, honestly, the only “barrier” I see to a sequel happening is that the reboot is airing next month -- and it’ll be confusing for the next generation of kids to follow one continuity, and then have a movie released with characters they recognise, but in an entirely different continuity. Unless, of course, the sequel comes out in another two years and the reboot has finished after one season (though there’s always a possibility it goes on beyond one season).

S: “Yes, I think there’ll be a sequel.”

F: “It seemed quite final. But obviously if the 02 epilogue is accurate that can’t be the end. Unless Matt finds Gabumon again on the moon I guess. “Oh hey yeah we don’t really disappear, we just go to space!” Yeah, it could go either way. Maybe they are saving Sora’s big part for the sequel!” (XD)

And that’s a wrap! I’ll probably read the novelisation of the movie eventually . . . and it’ll probably be like 95% the same, lol.

[rurulaura]

after watching tri. dubbed...

aiI have updated my theory on what happened before tri. started. Yes, even 2 years later I have more to add. Watching it with a clear head really helped me understand and see more. I remember thinking Meiko was involved back then, but I didn’t want to believe it because I didn’t want to give people more reason to hate her... Yeah, like i said. Now, a clear head. Also, the irony...Being too scared to say the truth.

But here it is.

Back then I was actually pretty darn close. I wrote a post similar to this 6 months before OUr Future aired. I just needed to tweak and fix a few things.

I can see Meicoomon somehow running off in kawasakiand separated and that ould lead to Meicoomon getting scared and causing electric distortions, which eventally leads the 02 kids to going there.

The 02 kids most likely went to kawasaki the day tri starts to investigate the outages.  They run into meiko and either her “cat” is missing and the 02 kids want to help her. Or She is being targeted with Meicoomon in arms, either because of infected digimon or mysterious man himself.

They may be asked by Maki to help keep meiko and Meicoomon safe for the time being since someone is after her/them.

Eventually events occur that cause the four to catch on to what Maki and Yggdrasil are planning.

Either meicoomon escapes through a distortion , due to mysterious man, into the digital world or they make their own way to the digital world via ken’s digivice And crest. That’s how maki knew there crest power would help the 8. They confront mysterious man planning on taking him down, but their Digimon are infected and no longer listening to them. Either their digimon get killed by alphamon or they start fighting eachother and the kids get taken out. 

The kids go missing, either meiko knew that much or just about the infection. Either way maki probably lied her ass off like she did with yamato and daigo in confession and said the kids would be fine and there was no reason to worry.

Everything may have happened so fast that they didn’t have time to call for backup.  That may be why hikari and takeru aren’t there. Also, they probably weren’t expecting to be up against an ultimate level digimon.  

As seen in tri. They really don’t hang with eachother as much. Everyone is busy with their lives. In kizuna the four hang out together, but keep in touch with eachother some what. So the flour not being super close with taker and hikari isn’t quite jarring.  

Also i wonder if meicoomon got separated from meiko for a few days from kawasaki. Meicoomon has been running around Odaiba for a few days. We see her in part 1’s opening.

Now how the infection spread in the first place I’m not sure. we know the digital gate was closed for at least a year and the electrical disturbances had been happening for a while too. It may very well be that meicoomon was able to affect the Digital world from the real world.  There was ample time to do so. Maki and MM probably had this plan in motion for 6 years.

This theory maybe two years late. But after watching tri.  dubbed I noticed a lot more things. It helped looking at the series with a clear mind.

 it’s fun now to think that daigo and Daisuke got to meet and goof around. And the other interaction. Just that alone has another story in store for us. I just wish tri. has made it a little more obvious. 

[etjwrites]

OC Backstory Week 5 - Loss

What was the most devastating loss they suffered? Are they familiar with loss, or are they merely afraid of what they have to lose?

@yourocsbackstory​

Okay, who okayed these questions? (No, I'm not gonna calm down! I've already answered too many prying, nosy, insensitive questions! I don't care that this whole experience is supposed to “humanise” us or whatever.) Really? You promise? No more, for a year at least? And TCBNN is going to up my compensation credits? Fine, I guess. Can you edit this? It's live? Oh, well. You get what you get.) I suppose we can continue. You all already know about the worst thing that happened to me as a kid, so why not explore it a little further? Let's see. . . Oh, yes! It happened on one fine 'tween frix day:

Bo crept through the understorey of the Hinnom forest on all fours. As keen as Ossu'un and Sh'rah's hearing was, he was quieter than a breeze on a still night when shifted to s'hinoian form. They might still notice the leaves rustling as he backed away if he wasn't careful, so he made each step measured and deliberate, avoiding the twigs that could crack if he misplaced a paw. The twins didn't seem to notice him slipping away, too engrossed in a rowdy game with their friends, and once Bo was sure he was out of earshot, he turned and scampered through the forest, letting the wide leafy fronds and think chishish trees swallow him up. He kept running until he reached the one place Nyss never let him come on his own. Bo shifted to klia'an form to push aside the leaves revealing a living fence made of trees planted so close they entwined together, before unlatching the gate separating the clearing inside from the rest of the forest. His heart jumped, making his throat hurt as he peered through the resulting thin crack at the memorial markers within. P'rraa's was at the far end of the clearing, a carefully sculpted pile of stones set around with sapisz gems reflecting the light seeping through the trees in a a brilliant blue. One gemstone was set in the   ornamental wooden quirn embedded in the ground in front of the marker, announcing Bo's father as a warrior fallen in battle. Bo was about to push the gate fully open when movement near the marker caught his eye. He pulled back, tucking himself into the pungent smelling wood of the living fence, hoping it wasn't Ossu'un and Sh'rah. But that would be silly. If they'd even noticed he was missing, they wouldn't think he'd come here. They didn't know him like Nyss did; it was good for Bo that his older brother had left the rather less observant twins in charge of him while on his trading trip. So if the person inside wasn't one of his brothers, who was it? Bo peeked inside again, and the sunlight flashed off something yellow, now right in front of P'rraa's marker. Bo gasped in outrage, and wasted no time tearing open the gate, marching up to the intruder, and wrenching him away.

“How dare you be here!?” he hissed at Kenton. Kenton's eyes went wide, and he stumbled back, knocking into P'rraa's marker. Bo growled at him and Kenton held up one hand placatingly. “I, I, I just wanted,” he stammered, gulping several times. “I'm sorry. I don't–  My umama and pa and Annie – the Innah never found their bodies, and there's no place to even visit them. This,” tears spilled from Kenton's eyes, and he wavered, looking like he might fall, “this is the closest thing I have.” He took a deep breath, backing up as Bo stalked closer. “Your pa died trying to rescue me, so I come here to say thank you to him. And sorry.” Bo crossed his arms, pinning his ears flat against his head. “The Innah lets you come here alone?” His throat was so tight he could hardly get the words out. Kenton obviously understood the idea of guilt, else he wouldn't be crying, but if he was truly sorry, he wouldn't dare to defile the Memorial Circle with his icky human presence. Kenton shook his head. “No, I snuck out while she was trying to comb Seri's mane. She never lets me visit. She thinks it'll make my bad dreams worse. But,” he clenched his fist, and Bo noticed for the first time the limp flowers trying to escape his grasp. “I thought maybe if I could just apologise it might make them go away. After all, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him.” “I would think so,” Bo snarled, advancing further until Kenton was pressed against the wall. “You need to leave. Now.” “Can I just?” Kenton lifted his hands and gestured at P'rraa's marker. “I won't come back again.” Bo inspected the light blue blossoms Kenton offered to him. They were the exact same shade as the sapisz stones arranged around the marker. “Did you steal these from healer Laedr?” Kenton drew himself up, affronted. “I would never! When I was ill with raxilsish she brought them, since the regen-rig would just have made me sicker. But I didn't use all of them. I know they won't do much good,” his eyes filled again with tears which he quickly wiped away. “I thought maybe, maybe if they take pain away, they could help somehow.” Bo stepped back, and motioned for Kenton to approach the marker. The fact that Kenton had saved the rare flowers to place within the Memorial Circle instead of using them cure his own pain – the gesture tugged at Bo's anger, calming it. “I'm sorry,” Kenton said again, dropping to his knees and touching the wooden quirn reverently before laying the delicate petals out one by one. Bo had to admit, P'rraa's marker looked nice with the flowers. “Thank you. For giving me a second chance. For protecting everyone.” Bo sat down cross legged next to Kenton. It still burned him to see a human paying respects to his father, but Kenton's feelings were genuine, he could sense it. Only sorrow and regret and gratitude tinged his scent, no notes of falsehood. Now that he was paying attention, Bo was startled to discover that the sour tang he always associated with Kenton had actually been coming from him. “P'rraa was the best,” he said suddenly. “He used to recite the stories to me and act out all the parts with all the voices. And on the days he was too tired, he'd light his quirn and do shadow figures.” “I wish you could have had more time with him.” “You too. With your 'pa' I mean,” Bo said, scooting closer to Kenton. “Tell me about him?” Kenton looked at Bo in surprise, eyebrows scrunching together and mouth dropping open. But slowly, haltingly, he started to speak, and Bo found he didn't quite mind the human after all.

So there you have it. Yes, we bonded over our dead dads. Shared trauma and all that. Looking back on it, it seems so silly that I hated Ken for so long when we had so much in common. That's being a kit for you a guess. Irrational reactions to rational feelings. Enemies one day, best friends the next. Alright, I'm nearing the end of my patience, and I'm hungry, so why don't we skip down the list and pick a few questions from near the end before I go feral and eat everyone here. That was a joke. Maybe. 

@igotablankpage​ @musicofglassandwords​ @elaynab-writing​ @sheabutterskyes​  @alcego-writes​ @valdifarniente @writeanapocalae​

00 - Intro || 01 - Family || 02 - Friends || 03 - Rivals || 04 - Skills || 06 - Home || 07 - Free/Secrets

[twinfanfics]

The tale of the three head beast. The marching fishes (19/22)

WE ARE BACK!! And the ending is written, only four more chapters  to end. WUUU!!

Fandom: Digimon GoT au.

Charaters: All the choosen children from Adventure, 02, Tamer and sometimes Frontier.

Ships: Taiyama, Joumi, Daiken, Takary, TakatoxYuri, RikaxRyo …

Second part of the tale of the three head beast series, you can read the first part The chosen children Here and here, or look for the tag  3t3hb  on this blog.

Resume: Three years had pased since Taichi won the hand of princess Sora and both get crowned King and Queen of the living land, now they must faced the duty of the monarchs, but the King is must worried about cover his affair with the royal guard. The war started on the Honest Island, does the King Joe would manage it?. Mean while at the other side of the sea Takato and Ruki stronger their forces.

And you can read all past chapters of the marching fishes in the links below or in AO3

ACT 1. ESCENE 1: THE RAIN

ACT 1. ESCENE 2: THE WILL  

ACT 1. ESCENE 3: THE TRIP

ACT 1. ESCENE 4:THE SON

ACT 2. SCENE 1: THE ARRIVAL

ACT 2. SCENE 2: BROTHERHOOD

ACT 2. SCENE 3: MOTHER | **warning suicide attempt**

ACT 2. SCENE 4: THE BATTLE OF THE IKKAKU ISLAND

ACT 3. SCENE 1: THE INTERROGATION

ACT 3. ESCENE 2:  DELIVERY

ACT 3. ESCENE 3: RED DRESS

ACT 4. ESCENE 1:TRIAL

ACT 4. ESCENE 2: THE SAINT QUEEN

ACT 4. ESCENE 3:THE SPY

ACT 4. ESCENE 4: INTRUDERS

ACT 4: SCENE 5: THE BROKEN SWORD

ACT 5: SCENE 1: THE WIDOW

ACT 5: SCENE 2: WELCOME HOME

ACT 5 : SCENE 3: FAITH (chapter after the cut)

The bells of the Light church rang at the sunrise. Queen and King wake up on the big bed. The King rolled over it and tried to cover himself with the bed sheets. 

“it is going to be late”  It wasn’t and order, but everything that Sora said feels like a comand now. 

Taichi turned to his wife. She undressed herself unceremoniously and walked naked until the dresser. For years both had kept themselves to some shy decor but shy had died on her wife. 

“You are going to miss your audiences” She said when she come out full dress and Taichi was still sitting over the bed on his bet´s clothes. 

She looked gorgeous on that big dress, it was embroidered with the Light emblems and it left place for the sword that Sora carried everywhere. 

“Your audiences” She insisted. 

“Yes, yes, I know. They can wait for me, I’m the King” Taichi said as he stand up and walked at the dresser. 

“I am on my way then. I had a reunion with the sisters on the morning, but I’m going to take the audiences of the afternoon” 

When she opened the door Yamato wasn’t standing outside. Nobody cared their door anymore. No one follow the Queen anymore. Taichi waited until Sora’s steps were far away to change his clothes. When he opened the door Hikary was waiting outside. 

“Brother” the girl said smiling. “Let me accompany you at the ceremony”

Taichi take a deep breathe. The words “I want to be alone” die on his troat.  Hikary take his arm and they walked together at the throne room. 

The royal guard was waiting on the throne room. Most of them wearing the Light armor, Yamato Ishida, royal guard and leader of the soldiers, wasn’t. 

The King crossed his look with the handsome soldier. Restrained himself to touch him had never costed him this much. 

“Brother” Hikary called him “Your majesty” she corrected promptly “We are ready to star”

Taichi sat on the throne. HIkary welcome at the guests of the ceremony and recited a five minute prayed. 

“I can’t believed they made us attended this” Kouji whispered at Takuya on the back line of the army.

“And you don’t go at the daily mass, they are longer everyday” the fellow soldier replayed.

“What is she wearing?”

“It is a ceremonial sister thing”

“It would be easier pay attention to her if she hasn’t three layer of clothes on”

“The sisters of Light are illuminated, it is supposed that if they don’t cover to head to toe when they pray they would break the souls of the weakness with her sacred grace”

“What?” 

A sshh called the attention of the soldiers. 

Hikary finally retired of the spotlight and Taichi stand up of the throne. Davis Motomiya knelt down in front of him. 

“Outrageous” Kouji said on a quiet voice “the man betrayed the King that he swore to protect and received a title”

“Is he that good?” Takuya asked.

“What?”

“Is he as good to be the new protege of the King?” the knight asked with disdain. 

“The protégé of the King?”

Izzy Izumi standed behind the young men and they shut up immediately. 

Kouji looked at Takuya. His brown eyes were glued at Motomiya, the guy had returned from the war with the favor of King, he was now his new apprentice, not Takuya. Kouji had seen Motomiya in action on the battlefield, if he had the favor of the King he can easily ascend on the royal guard. Kouji could had been worried about his own position on the royal guard, but the subtle hate on the eyes of Yamato Ishida when he accepted Motomiya on the guard were even bigger than the envy on the eyes of Takuya. 

When the little ceremony ended the supreme alchemist come close at the King and whispered something at his ear. Sorrow plasted on the face of the monarch. His eyes went to Yamato. The royal guard was at some steps of The King. 

“That concludes the ceremony, thank to all of you for coming”Hikary said with the sweetest voice “That the true god of Light enlighten your days” She said as she looked at Yamato. 

Kouji knew that look. That was the look that the enlightened had for him and his brother. That people always talk about saving the souls, but their solutions always were torches and murders. 

The King left the throne room. His sister followed him. 

Yamato left the throne room, but he cannot follow the king any more. The royal guard assemble the guard, it was time for training. 

Kouji had to admit that this was the funniest training that they had ever had. Yamato wasn’t subtle about his hate for Davis Motomiya, his exercises were excessive, no soldiers talk to him, he felt and get hurt. Even Takuya mock him. Takuya whose first move always was befriend the new recruits. 

Prince Takeru knel to help him when Motomiya felt for the third time. 

“It’s enough!” The Prince claimed. 

Yamato actually listened to him and called out the soldiers. 

“Your training are really hard, I’m not surprise of the good reputation of your army” Motomiya said at the prince with some tenderness. 

“The Captain need time” Takeru said.

“What?”

“If you act right, this could get better” The prince handed some water at Davis. Kindness was so strange to him right now. The prince was gone for when Davis tried to said thank you. 

“this could get better” Davis repeated to himself. Hope was never his strength. He was optimistic on the battles, but it was Ken and Iory work to do the planning. Ken and Iory. He shouldn’t miss the brothers that he betrayed. He missed Ken’s warm and Iory’s clarity. What would be their brothers advice on this situation? Ken would kill at anyone who mock him, he would made some cruel revenge plan. Iory probably would take it as a challenge, maybe he would try to win at the superiors, his little brother was good for that. Ryo would resolve this problem for him. But his master was gone and Davis was alone. He cannot plan a evil revenge or charming his way out. He did the thing that he do when he can’t do anything else. 

The afternoon came at the palace. It was quite and warm and Davis was boring, the trained had let him wounded and sad. He walked by the gardens through the hallways, until the big doors of the wall around the castle. Takuya and Kouji were guarding the doors.

“Where are you going?” Takuya asked

“I'm going to the port, I would come back by the sunset” Davis answered

“I dont think so”

“ i dont had orders to complete or anything to do here”

“You can't leave without permission” Kouji interested 

“Do we need permission to leave the palace-” Davis asked. The two soldiers look at each other with smuggled smiles.

“I don't think you understand what is happening”

“ You are just being mean” Davis accused them.

“mean?” takuya laughed “it is a way to said it”

A whinny interrupted the conversation. When Davis turned it was Yamato Ishida infront of him riding a black horse.

“What is happening here?” The royal guard asked

“Motomiya wants to leave the Castle” Kouji said

“ Trying to escape already?” Yamato looked down at Davis since the horse. 

“I'm not quicking I just want to visit the port” Davis claimed. He isn't scaping anything, he was a free man.

“You can't leave the castle, Motomiya”

“What? Why?”

“Orders of the King”

“Liar” 

Yamato get down of the horse.

“How do you call me?”

“You heard it”

Davis saw the fit of his superior officer and got ready to take the hit, but the hand of princes Takeru hold the elbow of the royal guard. 

“Yamato!” the princes called “what are you doing?” 

The older man shake it off his anger.

“I was going to teach a lesson to this vermin”

“I had a name” Davis said challenging Yamato, the blond turned to him with hate on his eyes. “I need to go at the port to pray, when did you go?”

“Excuse me?”

“You are too a son of the ocean as me”

“I’m nothing like you” Yamato claimed as get closer to the soldier.

“Every soldier of the King is a soldier of the Light” Takuya said firmly. Kouji grown smaller and Takeru and Yamato evaded his look. 

“I had seen the big walrus on your neck” Davis said at Yamato “You are a son of the ocean”

“SIlence!” Yamato scream and moved his hand with force “You don’t have the right to call the old names of the ocean, how you dare, you… dirty traitor”

The words of Yamato hang on the air, Davis listened it but need a few seconds to understand the meaning of the words. 

“I betrayed your enemies, I joined your army, I won your war, your men and your King are only alive because…”

“You betrayed YOUR KING! YOU KILL HIM!”

Yamato’s hand was over his sword and the hand of Takeru was holding his

“No”  Davis said “You are the one who killed Joe KIdo”

Takeru looked at Davis with surprise and slowly released Yamato. Finally he turned over himself to don’t watch the ugly show. 

The fist of Yamato finally hit Davis face. The young soldier tried to evade the second one, but Kouji hold him by the back and kept him in place. Yamato broke his lips and hit his stomach. Davis couldn’t breathe,he was only bleeding. Finally he hit the ground. Someone, probably Takeru, let him at the infirmary. 

 Davis wake up on a cold room, alone. The wall of the palace were probably the last wall that he had ever seen. He had been wrong, he wasn’t the protege of the KIng or a soldier of the royal guard, he was a prisoner and he was so far away of the ocean than no god would heard him. 

The old god had abandoned him. His master had leave him behind. His new King had lied to him. There was no more place to go. Davis entered at The Light church. There were angels and figures of old criatures singing and howling, there tails were long and there arms short. Davis walked for the corridors and stopped in the garden. 

The young boy stand next to the fountain and with a hand in the water and the eyes on the sky, he pray.  

A suddenly noise alerted him. He turned the head and saw her standing next to fountain, beautiful as a new day, an angel.  

“What hails you, brother?” The angel asked, but Davis has no words to share with so gracefull presence. He broke over her and cried all his laments. 

"Holy mother in heaven, shelter of the poor and support of the weaks" Hikary pray "show the way at this lost sheep". 

Since they balcony of the church Izumi watch the encounter with an impy smile.

[sincerepinkhibiscusrightear]

So, I finally watched Boku No Mirai. I wasn’t able to the day it came out because I was in class all day. By the time I got home I basically sat in complete exhaustion until I passed the heck out. BUT my feelings under the cut. Note: It is currently 9am, I am sleep deprived and slightly sugar high. It might get a little off track.

I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to watch this last movie or not. I, like the rest of you, am tired. So, so tired. I was afraid that it would make me angrier than I have been. It’s been three years. I just wanted it to end, but I was afraid of it ending.

I loved it. I cried five times throughout the movie. I was able to appreciate Meiko as a character. The thing that I was worried about the most and hated the most about Tri was rectified.

Does that mean I don’t have my problems with Tri? Heck no. But I’ve been angrier at Loss. But let me go through it.

I watched 4 of the 6 movies with my friend and fellow rp partner @spiritxgun and maybe he can speak of his own thoughts and feelings on the movies. We marathoned Digimon 01 together and went straight to Tri. We initially only meant to watch the first two movies. The first because I thought it was good. The second because it centred around Mimi, and she is the whole reason we watched. Since 02 barely has Mimi in it, there was little point in slogging through what I considered a terrible series just for 2 episodes where she was actually featured as a full character and not just seen for 3 seconds.

But Boku no Mirai crept up on us and I asked him to watch with me, and since we were going to watch the ending, why not the whole thing. Cue marathon. Anyways, sorry for the long sidenote.

Going back to the Real World, the kids have a quiet moment as they basically wait for what to do next. There’s a lot of unsureness and waiting. But there was a good scene with Yamato and Gabumon that I’m glad was there.

I’m not sure why Ordinemon preferenced going after Meiko on the pier and not Hikari in the bed. Ordinemon is 50/50 both their partners. Maybe Meiccoomon just held stronger influence. That’s likely it. Now it’s a desperate race to defeat Ordinemon.

I’m actually quite happy that Homeostasis wasn’t made out to be evil. Or that Yggdrasil necessarily went crazy. She was just doing what she thought was best, and I think it was rather kind of her to take the time to warn the children they were going against what she thought was against everyone’s best interests for peace, order and balance. Others may not see it as kindness, but that’s what I took away. These were her charges and while she doesn’t have a full range of human empathy, it is required, I think, to some degree to keep balance.

It just turns out the kids didn’t want her balance if it meant rebooting everything all the time. You know what? Good on them. I was starting to get annoyed that it felt like the kids were just caught between two feuding gods and had no business doing anything. So being proactive and fighting against her wishes was wonderful.

I also loved that Hackmon actually felt the most empathy toward the children. At least that seemed to be what was hinted with his words of ‘this isn’t what I wanted, either.’ Of course I can’t quote verbatim.

Actually, thinking of Hackmon and how James was surprised at Hackmon being Jesmon, I realized that we never saw Alphamon’s other forms. Any of them. Coupled with that, the mystery of the fake Gennai since Gennai was being kept with the 02 kids. Maybe Fake!Gennai is Alphamon?

Both of us wanted Fake!Gennai to die. Both of us thought at the same time how hilarious it would be if he got caught in the crossfire while gloating and just ceased.

I’m glad actually that one of my fears was proven wrong. I was hoping that Tri wasn’t just an excuse to establish the formation of the Royal Knights. That somehow Homeostasis wasn’t going to be overthrown for Yggdrasil, that constantly malfunctioning thing and get established a round table of knights that never seem to get along and always feud with one another and fall apart at the seems, replacing the concept of a Digidestined/Chosen Child for that.

I’m happy that the world isn’t idyllic and perfect like 02′s epilogue depicted. I hated it. Even as a child I thought it was too simplistic and fanficcy. Of course it sucks that everyone but the Chosen detest digimon now, but at best I expect an uneasy acceptance of digimon with fluctuating parts hate, neutrality and like for digimon as the world comes to terms with the idea of the Digital World existing alongside theirs.

I’m also glad that the memories of the digimon were restored. I know a lot of people hate the idea of their memories coming back. But it wasn’t the idea of the memories coming back that irked me. It was the status quo of the relationships not changing. At all. None of the digimon acted any differently or formed different relationships with their partners despite the lack of memories. Gatomon/Tailmon retained her Champion form despite the reboot making it so that in the new Digital World’s history she no longer had to struggle under Myotismon. But it seemed like the reboot wasn’t a complete clean slate. The history still affected the digimon in some way, and I think that was a hint that the memories would return. That something would be restored. I just wish there was a more visible contrast to there being a change in the first place. But I would have been just as angry if the memories had been returned in the same movie it was revealed they were definitely lost.

I’m sorry but Memory Loss for Drama/The Sads just is really a pet peeve of mine. I am who I am because of who I was, and my memories are a testament to that. So such a concept as one’s memories is important to me, personally. I don’t expect anyone else to share my feelings on the matter.

Regarding Wizardmon, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. I think it was great how he was shown, but considering his hat was on the poster I would have liked to see him have more screen time. But seeing him there still made me cry and whisper soundlessly to James and somehow he still heard me through my microphone. How, I have no idea because honestly I was that quiet.

Since we’re talking about characters making appearances, I’ll also talk about the 02 kids. I am one of those people who don’t really give a fuck about the 02 kids. Sorry, but they more annoy me than anything. Except for maybe Iori and MAAAAYBE Ken. Maybe. If I hadn’t known that Tri was supposed to focus on the 01 kids I’d be more upset. But since it was very clearly established it wasn’t going to be on the 02 kids, I was satisfied with the idea that the kids probably wouldn’t actually be SEEN until the 6th movie and lo and behold I was right.

The movies do actually a good job with never letting us forget that the 02 kids are missing. But it was very evident we wouldn’t see them until the end. Why the 01 kids never wondered why they were absent, I’m not sure. I figured they moved to go to different high schools. An explanation just for clarity would have been nice.

The password for unlocking Meiccoomon’s memories was good, man. James was there speculating it would be Meiko’s name. But he figured that would be too simple. When he asked what I thought, I said ‘Ta much’ and TA DA! I win~

On Mimi, I was actually super happy that Mimi was so empathetic and passionate in this movie. I loved how she picked up Koromon. I wanted her to comfort him more. There wasn’t a lot of her in terms of screen time, but I was happy with what was there. It felt very ‘her’ to me, or how I always saw her to be.

The pacing was better than the last two movies. The animation budget seemed to be better, but I think there were a few quirks of what felt like a running-low-on-budget production, but it wasn’t as bad as that frigging montage of stills in Loss. That took both of us out of the story.

The second reboot itself felt a little iffy. Maybe I’d be more pissed if I hadn’t immediately thought of the concept that they already justified such a possibility with their more philosophical discussions previously. Plus it was definitely in line with Homeostasis and what she would do. Going back to Hackmon, I’m glad someone, even if it was Meiko, finally brought up the idea of whether or not Homeostasis even cared about them as people or was heartless, and going after Hackmon. Hackmon, likewise, I’m glad told Meiko to shut up about apologizing. But in a nicer way.

There was no repeat of conversations unlike Symbiosis, which started feeling repetitive. So that was good.

Both Maki and Daigo seemed to have died. Maki I stopped caring about, though I recognize the tragedy of her character. A Chosen fallen into despair and gone astray. She was abused and cracked under pressure of being a pawn. Daigo got his heroic farewell and I wouldn’t have been happier any other way. Even though he was the favourite of the newcomers. I just wanted him to be happy, but if he can’t be alive and happy, I’m glad he’s at least still happy while dead.

Orinemon’s ass shots were distracting. There’s no getting around that. Seriously who fucking flies like that? How is that natural looking in any way shape or form? It’s not aerodynamic by any means. Sure, her wings double as hands doubling as digimon n stuff but feetwings still need aerodynamic everything to fly properly. Legs down and bent over is not that.

I’m glad at least it felt like no other character got that treatment. Lillymon once with the flying I guess. But they could have been so much worse with Angewomon and Rosemon and they weren’t.

Yamato’s quip about shooting for space irked me. I’m sorry but why the fuck? Just a casual ‘lol I guess I’ll be random and quit my music career to 1-Up/Emulate Taichi’. You did NOT earn that! GTFO with it you are still a musician to me and always will be. Shoot for the stars in your music videos you absolute loser dweeb.

[monasatlantis]

Digimon Tri - My review of the the first 4 movies

Be warned, I use mostly the german names here... because I am so damn used to them XD

First of all lets talk about which Episode I found was the best... and which one was the worst.

The best episode for me, was definitely the third one. I loved the emotions, the actions, the music was on point and there were almost no unnecessary filler scenes. The only thing you could complain about is, that I can hardly remeber Izzy in that one, despite the fact that it was suppose to be centered around him too. But besides what happened in the final fight, the only thing I can remember ist my poor boy Takeru crying his eyes out, because he realized he is going to lose Patamon once more, this time most likely for good. I loved the moment when all the Digimon did spend their last hours with their partners. I also liked it that we were fooled to believe that the memories of the Digimon could be saved. It was a nice plottwist that it didn’t work. The worst episode for me so far was episode 2. I laughed a lot in this hilarious onsen-scene were Kari got saved from T.k. of all people and Sora ended up infront of the door to the Sauna in which Tai and Matt of all people were in and were just getting out just at the right moment. I really loved that scene, but this whole onsen-scene had no other purpose than fun and fanservice. It was an overly long and unnecessary filler for that episode. Next comes, I personally don’t care for Mimi and Joe that much. And I find some or their character traits extremely annoying. So watching them doing the stuff I dislike about them the most is just really... interesting... at all. Plus, I have nothing against Meiko, but she is a stranger and new to the team and she got a lot of screentime in this episode... which made it even more annoying, because it was the worst mix of characters to have the focus that they could make. At least for me personally. The first episode was a nice starter. You got to get invited to figure out were our characters are right now, what they are doing, their relationships with each other and how they handle their life at the moment. All in all it was a nice introduction to the new season. But I found it was not exactly an episode that I would love. And it centered a bit too much on Tai. Yes, he was and is the star of the Digimon Adventure team, but it still felt like too much Tai to me and it is not like I dislike him, so that is not the problem. When it comes to the 4 and for now last episode I feel a bit... uhm... biased, because I have a certain problem with Tai, Matt and Sora as a trio for reasons only the shipper will understand. But I talk about them later. The point is, the episode centered around them, so it was pretty hard to stay unbiased. But I did like the nostalgie that came with that episode. Being back in the digiworld and all. What I disliked tho, was the fact that Biomons behavior seemed out of character. In the first season, Biomon was unnerving as hell, following Sora around, annoying even the woman with the crest of love and this time Biomon runs away from her? Doesn't seem right to me.

Now lets talk about the overall plot so far and what you think about the characters, now that they are older once more...

I actually feel a bit weird about the plot and some of the characters in a way. Don’t get me wrong, the plot as it is is not bad and all... and I do love and hate the characters as much as I did all those years ago, but some things are not right for me. I actually am not even sure if we can consider Tri canon with some of those things that bug me. Lets talk about our 4 Heroes from season 02 first. I was never a huge fan of them, really. I only liked the second season for Hikari and Takeru and the cameos of the other characters from  the first season. BUT how they treat them here is absolutely stupid and not acceptable in any way. I do understand why they wanted them out of the way, since this season was suppose to be about the characters from season one, but there had to be another, a better way, to get the 02 kids out of the way. The way they did it in the movies was very cheap. First of all, Takeru and Hikari belonged to the 02 Team. They were not just an addition or more experienced Digidestined which helped them find their way into the world, they were part of the team. What happend to the oh so over the top promoted friendship between Kari and Yolei or T.k. and Cody? What happened to that deep connection between them that helped their Digimon to evolve together? They are missing right now in the movies, but they didn’t even realize that something was off until they saw the “Emperor” and even after that, they were easily convinced that everything is alright. Kari and Davis have always been good friends, why didn’t she call him to ask were his best friend Ken went or if something unusual happened to him? And why aren’t they around anymore? Like... they were all in the same school. And Davis was in Hikaris and Takerus class... why is he not even on the same school? Because if he would be, they surely would wonder why he doesn’t come to school anymore. (I just realized how good it is that hardly any shipper ship Kari and Davis, because for them, this season must be the biggest disappointment ever...) No one really deeply seems to care. And I also found Takerus reaction when the saw the “emperor” a little odd. He was a bit like “Oh no, it is that asshole again”, acting like Ken never was part of their team. This feels so not right. And I dislike it and understand every fan that complains. They have every right to. Next... Takeru is popular among girls, which is no big deal, he is cute and all, but how he acts about that seems so out of character to me. I never saw him being the boy who enjoys being popular among girls and also it seems so unlike Takeru to be so flirty and stuff, seeing how he interacted with Meiko when she showed up and his reaction when the concert got cancelled. The way Hikari teases him says it all, it seems like he toys around with girls, never beeing serious. That is not my baby boy T.k. and I refuse to believe he would EVER become like that. There is once more the Trio that gives me a headache, but I will write about that in the next post. Something that bugs me a bit too, his how Meiko was so easily accepted into the team. I mean, she gets invited to go with them to take a hot bath on what felt like the next day, while no one bother about the 02 kids. I honestly thing its the writers own fault that she gets so much hate, when you look at it. Other then that, most of the plot and the way the characters became are okay. I actually thought that Kari had made quite the progress, but seeing how she got stuck with Tai the whole 4. episode it felt like I was wrong. I do think, although it was annoying, that Tai fearing that his actions might hurt or even kill someone only shows that he is more mature and thinks more about his actions and the consequences that follow. I also like that we get to know more about the very first Digi-destined. Like... finally. We never knew much about them. We just got bits and pieces here and there. And now we might finally found out the entire truth. That is really nice.

Now lets talk about ships and how important it is to watch the movies yourself to understand what really is going on between the ships.

I have been in the digimon tri tag before a few times, keeping myself at least a little up to date, while I was pondering if I will watch the movies or not. And I can teller you that some things were not how the people wrote they were. Lets start with Takari. This is most likely the most popular ship from Digimon seasons one and two. There is hardly anyone else to ship those two with, because of how they already seemed meant to be in the first season, where they were barely 8 years old. Because of the things they have been through in the first season, their bond was extremely close in 02 and even Davis could not really get between them. Now in tri, they are basically always together. Walk side by side, talk to each other, tease each other, support and protect each other. Now I can tell you, as one who ships them too, that in tri, you get good shipping material and shipper are fussing about that since their first scene together ind the first movie. But watching it with a clear head (which I usually try to do), you come across the fact that some things were not as people make them look like. First of all... Karis oh so bad jealousy. Despite the teasing, Kari actually doesn’t really seems jealous at all... not even annoyed. She rather seems amused most of the time. Of course it is a thing of interpretation. But the only thing that hinted for me that Kari was jealous when Takeru told her he would go with another girl to Matts concert, was when she stopped walking for a moment. But the way she reacted was otherwise extremely calm and didn’t show any sign of jealousy. Takeru, on the other hand, pretty much seemed like he WANTED her to be jealous. Of course in the end, you can see that as a stupid game they play. He tries to make her jealous and she know that this is what he wants, so she pretends not to, with that dancing around the real subject behind it: Their feelings for each other. Or... Kari just knows that Takeru is not serious with any of the girls, given the attention she gets from him, it seems hard to believe that she really has a reason to be jealous and so she doesn’t mind. Or, she actually really doesn’t care about Takerus lovelife. It is a possibility. Someone pointed out, that from the very beginning, Takeru had a strong will to protect Hikari, going as far as to lose it in the episode with the black ocean, when she is only talking about her dearly beloved brother Tai, despite the fact that Takeru did care a lot for her too and wasn’t exactly hiding it. The point of that person was that, yes, Takeru protects and support Hikari a lot and often, but that is what he always did. And maybe he really just does it as a good friend, teammate and someone she shared a special bond with, do to what they have been through together and with their beloved Digimon... and annoying big brothers XD All logic aside, since I do ship them, I really enjoyed the many moments were they stood and walked next to each other, teased each other and supported and protected each other. They are hope and light and thus, for me personally, they belong together, always have, always will. And Karis lack of jealousy? Lets go with the “she knows better then to honestly be worried that any other girl could take her place“ because as we saw multiple times in tri, in the end, she is the number one priority right after Matt and Patamon. So why worry? *takes a deep breath* Now to the Trio... Tai, Sora and Matt. I don’t want to go to deep into this, because it really hurts, but let me tell you that I find it offending for both the Taiora and the Sorato fans how they treat them in tri. Digimon 02 made it canon that Sora and Matt were a thing, despite everything that happened between Sora and Tai in the first season and the fucking very first Digimon movie, Tai was shown to be fine with it. Well great. The Sorato fans won and the Taiora fans had to learn to live with it. Or write fanfiction... but you get what I mean. Things were clear. There was no question. We even got confirmation that Sora and Matt got married in the end (fuck this epilogue, really...), so tell me why, why on earth do they have to put a questionmark on those two ships again? Why are they unable to just confirm the one ship that was suppose to be canon for good or for worse, but instead show those 3 always together as a trio? I can not even tell you, how much I hated the 4. tri movie, because of what happened there. Because they made Sorato look like a fucking joke. Matt needed Tai to deal with the woman who is suppose to be his girlfriend and basically, Matt did almost nothing for Sora at all in that episode. When they got attacked the first time, who was it who was holding out his arm protectively infront of Sora? Tai. Who pushed her to the ground to protect her the second time they got attacked? Oh, look, it was Tai? Who was it who said Soras name in worry when the distortion showed that she was in danger? Tai. After Matt and Tai saved her from the following attack, who was the one who genuinely worried asked Sora if she was okay? Look, it was Tai, once again. Matt totally failed in his job to prove that he is Soras boyfriend and deserves to be her boyfriend in this episode. Honestly, every person who did not know that Matt and Sora are suppose to be a canon couple, would have though that Tai is the boyfriend or at least that Taiora is the ship with high chances of becoming canon. Not just because of that, there were other scenes in the other movies too. I know that this is suppose to be fanservice. But I hat it. If you make the choice to make a ship canon, then you have to stand behind it, no matter what. That is it from me about the first 4 episodes. Only 2 left.

[symbianosgames]

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

Emeric Thoa is Creative Director and Co-Founder at The Game Bakers, the studio behind Furi, Combo Crew, or the Squids games on console, PC and mobile. This post is reposted from The Game Bakers blog. Follow The Game Bakers: @TheGameBakers / @EmericThoa

Furi is a character action game for console and PC in which you fight only bosses. You can get an idea of what the game is about with this trailer: Furi Trailer.

*****

We launched Furi and received a truly incredible response from some players: they are crazy about the game, they love it more than I could have ever dreamt. In the meantime, other players, some reviewers didn't enjoy the game or felt rejected by it. And they criticized the game for that. That’s pretty fair, but here is a thing. Not every game is for you. That’s what is called diversity. That’s a good thing (Ken Wong explains it better than I would ever do).

Of course, there are games that are bad or average. They missed something and very few people actually love them. But I don't think it's the case for Furi. As it was very well summed up in some reviews, Furi is a love-hate kind of game. And believe it or not: it’s by design. It’s a game that was designed to create intense satisfaction, and it succeeded in doing so, even if it frustrated some along the way.

Furi is a Love-Hate game

In this article, I’ll explain how we came up with this intention, and how we made it happen.

PART ONE: On making a game that doesn’t try to please everyone.

After we made Combo Crew on mobile, my partner Audrey and myself started thinking about what our next game could be. We were in 2013. Indie gaming was already big, but we knew it would grow bigger. We knew the market would be even more saturated, even more fragmented. We knew that, by 2016, iOS and Google Play would be nothing like in 2010. Steam would be flooded by releases every day, and even the very young new consoles (PS4 and Xbox One) would have their stores full of games and sales of any kind.

We realized that, in order to be in the top 10 of the indie devs, we needed to make something « outstanding ». A game that stands out, in every possible way. A game with an edge. A game that I call a « Triple i » or “iii”.

This picture was in the very first document for Furi

Triple AAA games have the budget, the talents, the teams to achieve greatness with a huge scope. Story, visuals, characters, gameplay features, game modes, game length… they try to have everything in order to please everybody. Their aim is mass audience.

We believed that, in order to be competitive, smaller studios must go the opposite way. We are too small to be the best at everything, but we can aim to be the best at one thing. We can make something edgy. We can choose not to please everybody. We can choose to make something that most would actually dislike, in order to make sure a niche of gamers will find it truly memorable.

This was the foundation of our strategy for the three years to come.

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody."

Every decision in Furi was made in order to make it memorable for a niche of gamers who were somewhat starved: the Japanese character action game fans. Every decision was made in order to make the game outstanding, unique and focused.

The art direction stands out, with colourful and surrealistic environments.

The character design is stylish and unique, as we can expect from Afro Samurai’s creator Takashi Okazaki.

The combat is (very) fast paced, inspired by Japanese game design.

Its use of both shoot’em up and beat’em up mechanics is totally unique.

The soundtrack is made up of original compositions from amazing electro and synthwave musicians.

If we compare with the direction taken by a recent mainstream beat’em up like God of War, it's clear to see we just went the opposite way. They go for realism, we opted for surrealism. They went for an orchestral soundtrack, we decided on electro. Let’s not fight head to head with these guys, right?

They aimed for mass appeal, we didn't. No compromises. No consensus. We developed a game for a niche audience, but with the intention on casting a spell on our fans forever.

PART TWO: On fighting half-measures. On making strong choices.

This is a bold strategy to start with, but it’s even harder to make it actually happen. Especially during two years of production where as a creative director you are constantly challenged, by the team, by the playtesters, by the press in previews, by trailers comments… by anyone who is slightly involved in the game really.

I remember, during the heat of the production, tweeting this:

Any designer who reads me knows what I’m talking about. This fight against consensus, against half-measures, was the key to succeeding with this initial strategy of not trying to please everyone. If you go soft, you lose the edge, and then it’s over.

Here are some examples of the controversial decisions I took. Even some players who loved the game still disagree with them. I hear them. I’m not saying it couldn’t have been done otherwise or better. If I could, I would improve lots of things in the game, like the tutorials or the promenade mode. But I would probably stick with some of the controversial decisions I took, they are part of what makes Furi what it is.

Spoilers ahead.

Paths

In Furi, in between each fight, there are walking sequences where you just get backstory and coaching by your rabbit-masked mysterious buddy. You discover a visually unique environment teasing the upcoming boss personality, and listen to the music. These sequences are important because they give a meaning to the game through the story, they build the tension, and they force the player to take a break in between two intense boss fights. I knew the most arcade-hardcore players wouldn’t like it, but for most of our audience, it took Furi from “a great game” to “a meaningful experience”. As a designer, we stood strong with the idea of having the player “walk” and even “autowalk” (there’s a button for that) for 3-4 minutes. No minions to fight. No experience points to grind. No loot. I bet you can imagine this was a tough call to keep for two years of development.

The secret ending that resets your save

At one point in the game, there is a disguised choice. You can basically stop fighting. Stop killing. Reach a status quo. There is no good ending in the game, they all are good and bad in some ways. There is no happy end. But at least, you can choose why you fight for, or if you want to fight at all. It was important to me to make it “a true ending”. Otherwise it would have been a simple “easter egg”. Another trophy to the list. So I stood with the decision to reset the save after the players get that ending. Some people are annoyed because it makes them replay half of the game. Some people are annoyed because they triggered the ending accidentally (they are right to be annoyed, they are collateral damage of a strong design choice). But this kind of moment: - “I found a hidden event”. - “Oh it’s an ending, a peaceful one in a game about duels”. - “F*** my save is erased, they are not kidding, it’s actually over”. It’s part of what Furi tries to deliver. Surprise, adrenalin, intense emotions. Some people ranted about it, but some understood and loved it.

No come back from Promenade difficulty level

The game has three difficulty levels. The default one (Furi level) is demanding, requires a lot of patience and perseverance, and delivers a great deal of satisfaction when beaten. The hard one (Furier) is an extremely difficult game mode with the patterns and boss fights redesigned. We know that players who finish this game mode love the game and understood it, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to beat it. We actually thank them for that.

The last one (Promenade) is an extremely easy and shorter difficulty level for players who just don’t want to invest as much effort in the gameplay. Some players complain they can’t switch to Promenade for one fight and then come back to Furi mode. The reason we don’t allow this is not to punish players, it’s the opposite. If we did allow that, players would be tempted to switch to Promenade as soon as they encounter a difficulty peak. They would be tempted to go back and forth between the difficulty levels and they would lose all the satisfaction they'd get of eventually overcoming a big challenge.

Dashing on the “release”, a.k.a. the false perception of delay

In the game, there is a very fast, satisfying dodge ability, that makes you basically invincible. Some players have complained it was laggy or they felt a delay. There is no delay at all, but the dash starts when you “release” the button, not when you “press”. The reason for that is that you can charge the dash to go further. Press and hold, you charge. Release, you dash. This charging dash gives tons of depth to the patterns we can create. The boss fights get a lot of variety from this feature. But even within the team, this decision was considered very controversial. We could have split the dash ability on two buttons (quick dash/charged dash), but it felt too complex. Once you are used to a quick press & release for a dash (and most players are after one or two bosses), you get both the simplicity of the controls AND the gameplay depth.

These are only a few of the decisions that were controversial but that I decided to stick with instead of looking for a compromise. Of course, I DID change a lot of the design when I got complaints or relevant comments. I’m not saying it’s good to be narrow-minded. But it’s good to take some risks in order to keep your edge. I’m very grateful to Audrey and the core team at The Game Bakers and our partners at Sony for understanding that. They all committed to this vision from the start of the project.

PART THREE: On creating intense satisfaction.

The reason I love video games is because they create emotions. Through their gameplay, story, visuals, music, they can deliver any emotion you can think of.

Uncharted 4 delivers great brainless distraction, P.T. freaks you out, Journey creates a bond, Monument Valley makes you feel smart and poetic. Furi creates intense satisfaction. And by necessity, it can also create intense frustration along the way.

But I believe it succeeded creating intense satisfaction.

People say the game is hard. I would argue it’s mostly from another time. It’s anachronic. It requires patience (definitively not a trendy trait) and it’s a game of counter attack (a game where you wait and punish instead of aggressively attacking with combos, as in most games of the 2000's to current era).

But players who are perseverant will get better each time they play. Furi is like a guitar and each bossfight is like a partition. You start playing and you suck at it, but you get better after each practice. This is not something everyone is willing to do, but it makes it extremely satisfying when you finally beat a boss. This satisfaction is actually proportional to the effort you put into the bossfight. In order to create intense satisfaction, you need to require efforts.

And when the game manages to trigger that into someone, when a player finally overcomes the frustration and pain to turn it into relief and satisfaction, you get this:

The industry has a tendency to reward games that don’t itch.  Metacritic rules us all, and the formula to get a high Metacritic score is to make a game with one good feature and no flaw. We are prompted to make games that don’t displease, games that don’t frustrate. But recently, I have seen more and more games trying to be edgy. Trying to create intense emotions, even if it’s at the risk of segregating themselves from a larger audience. It’s exciting. Let’s welcome that.