My review of the Final Episode of Xros Wars, and the series as a whole.
Warning
*SPOILERS*HOLY Smoked bacon and cheddar cheese-sticks(, Batman)!
Xros Wars is flawed, but epic. Epic, but flawed. It is far from perfection, but far from atrocious. When it's bad, it's blah, but when it's good, it's
REALLY GOOD!The biggest flaw of this show is
its issues in pacing and juggling its subplots. It's really sad to see how other series before it could handle these two more easily, but it did manage to stay entertaining all the way through.That said, the music was AWESOME. Xros Wars has to got hold the title of best music of any Digimon series ever. So many tunes that can be called "Crowning Music of Awesome" and superb use of the trope "Autobots, Rock Out!"
The entire concept of DigiXros (and variations thereof) was a unique, interesting, and very pleasant aspect in this series. The sheer diversity of what could be created from it brought forth a grand sense of ingenuity and imagination like never before. But a major hindrance in it was the
characters' lack of putting it to competent use often enough. This particular episode demonstrated how DigiXros can be used in a wide variety in its finest. And the fact that it was Yuu who pulled off these combinations gave us a look at how imaginative he can be when given the chance to shine in the spotlight.Two DigiXros combos that stood out to me the most in this episode were
GolemJijiKamemon and the nameless Dracomon X Cyberdramon DigiXros. Seeing these two onscreen made me realize that this is the closest that we have come to seeing anything resembling Coredramon and/or JumboGamemon in animated form. While these two weren't an exact match for those two, they were still close enough to be satisfying (since Dracomon and/or ChibiKamemon actually evolving at this point without reason would have come off like a butt-pull).Though, I gotta say that the
DigiMemories seemed very underused in this show. After episode 30, I can't recall them ever being used again until recently. And they were all mostly iconic digimon too, so the fact that they chose not to take advantage of fanservice with more use of them just baffles me. Even in this battle, they seemed underused, running out of power as soon as they get Taiki et al inside the Dark Stone, and then just being 15 of the many Magic Mushrooms for Shoutmon later just felt like they didn't really need to be in this show other than for additional fanservice and to sell toys. Don't get me wrong, fanservice can be good, it's just has to be used well. Still, this show did already have a lot of good fanservice in it.
And what better way to end a fanservice-y show than with
a whole lot of fanservice? We got a fantastic last look at Taiki/Akari, and a great bit of Beelzebumon/Mervamon. Not to mention the biggest, most "fanfic-y yet somehow perfectly fitting" innovation of the Final Xros into Shoutmon X7 Superior Mode. Yes, it was a lackluster final fight, but the sheer majesty and magnificence of it all still made it enjoyable.
In fact, watching this actually come to fruition (the fusing of every digimon in the Digital World into one giant, angelic knight robot-mon) really shocked me. Not becuase I didin't see it coming or anything, but because the concept felt so familair to me. Years ago, as a little kid, I would brainstorm ideas for battles and stories that I could play out with my Digimon toys and other toys I had. And one of them, the final battle story, involved every digimon in the world coming together to unite with my protagonist digimon characters into one giant holy robotic knight digimon (the process of which I referred to as a colossal miraculous version of DNA Digivolution) that would face off against the ultimate darkness. Seeing what my child-like mind crafted coincidentally becoming a reality made this moment all the more precious to me.
And the bringing of everyone back to life... YAY! I'm glad those who sacrificed themselves were given a second chance to come back for a happy ending, thought it did seem a bit soon for some (like Olegmon and Apollomon). But for Deckerdramon and Grademon (who's still a bit of nobody to us), it was fair. And now, all those who sacrificed themselves before can now be commended in person for their efforts. If I were Shoutmon, I'd have all them be awarded medals of honor and valor for their noble efforts of heroism.Speaking of which: Shoutmon. Dag gone it, I love you, Shoutmon! You MADE this show worth it all. To me, you ARE Digimon Xros Wars! You are the epitome of what a Partner Digimon should be! A fully fleshed out individual with his own three-dimensional personalty that still compliments that of his Human Partner; and sense of intelligence, wit, charisma, hot-bloodedness, and charm all wrapped up into one nice neat package; and the ability to pull off the Deus Ex Machina "wow" factor with his higher forms without straying too far away from the genuine person that he is. You are THE reason I watched this show all the way through, and the fact that you're not only returning for next series but also
getting an epic redesign makes me all the more willing to dive into that series. Shoutmon, don't ever stop rockin' out loud with that soul of rock of yours. Rock on and don't ever change.
As for next series, all I can say it BRING IT!
