A lot of this episode is pretty standard, with most of the team trying to fend off the hordes of Gizumon while Marcus deals with Kouki. The former conflict isn't very engaging, and often feels scattered. Truth be told, this is partially because the Gizumon don't have the unsettling quality of D-Reaper agents; they're like oversized flies now.
Out of all the fights with the bio-hybrid trio, this is probably the weakest one. It lacks a sense of thrill and intensity and doesn't elevate the rivalry between these two beyond a simple contest of strength, an excuse for sub-par action. Not to mention, it has Bio-Darkdramon resort to the tired trick of threatening his opponent with collateral damage, giving him the image of a cheater instead of a credible challenge. The Geo-Grey Sword is, for lack of a better term, a boring weapon. Its introduction isn't as impressive as that of, say, Beelzemon's blaster, and having Marcus summon it by getting angry is the textbook definition of perfunctory.
The Gizumon Javelin, however, is a devastating weapon and great example of Kurata's ingenuity, which is his best characteristic. His smug expression as Eldradimon is being destroyed really conveys his gratification and makes you look forward to this guy's demise. Speaking of which, there are two supposedly major deaths in this episode. Baronmon bites the dust, but I don't think anyone cares. Eldradimon's death, however, is surprisingly sad. Sure, most of the time he looks like a static drawing, but his bellows of pain and the fact that he is a truly innocent victim of this whole ordeal elicits more sadness than anything else in this episode. I felt genuinely sorry for him.
As we have reached the essential end of Kurata's extermination plot, I must say I feel underwhelmed. For a villainous plot whose central conceit is the permanent deletion of these creatures, it's curious that things almost never felt as grim as in the flashbacks to the original attacks. What I'm getting at here is that, outside of Merukimon, Frigimon and Eldradimon, Kurata's assaults fail to inject the series with the somber quality expected of such an idea, and part of that has to do with how confined everything feels. Rather than being genocidal in scale, the actual raids are limited to the sacred city and some assumed off-screen attacks. How bold would it have been to see confirmation that a significant portion of the Digital World's population had been wiped out before the end? Coming up short in both scope and feeling, this matter didn't deliver on its darkness.
Out of all the fights with the bio-hybrid trio, this is probably the weakest one. It lacks a sense of thrill and intensity and doesn't elevate the rivalry between these two beyond a simple contest of strength, an excuse for sub-par action. Not to mention, it has Bio-Darkdramon resort to the tired trick of threatening his opponent with collateral damage, giving him the image of a cheater instead of a credible challenge. The Geo-Grey Sword is, for lack of a better term, a boring weapon. Its introduction isn't as impressive as that of, say, Beelzemon's blaster, and having Marcus summon it by getting angry is the textbook definition of perfunctory.
The Gizumon Javelin, however, is a devastating weapon and great example of Kurata's ingenuity, which is his best characteristic. His smug expression as Eldradimon is being destroyed really conveys his gratification and makes you look forward to this guy's demise. Speaking of which, there are two supposedly major deaths in this episode. Baronmon bites the dust, but I don't think anyone cares. Eldradimon's death, however, is surprisingly sad. Sure, most of the time he looks like a static drawing, but his bellows of pain and the fact that he is a truly innocent victim of this whole ordeal elicits more sadness than anything else in this episode. I felt genuinely sorry for him.
As we have reached the essential end of Kurata's extermination plot, I must say I feel underwhelmed. For a villainous plot whose central conceit is the permanent deletion of these creatures, it's curious that things almost never felt as grim as in the flashbacks to the original attacks. What I'm getting at here is that, outside of Merukimon, Frigimon and Eldradimon, Kurata's assaults fail to inject the series with the somber quality expected of such an idea, and part of that has to do with how confined everything feels. Rather than being genocidal in scale, the actual raids are limited to the sacred city and some assumed off-screen attacks. How bold would it have been to see confirmation that a significant portion of the Digital World's population had been wiped out before the end? Coming up short in both scope and feeling, this matter didn't deliver on its darkness.
