Today was the final episode of Digimon Tamers. I'm so sad. It's all over now. Never again will I get to see Takato and Guilmon running around in the park. Never again will I get to see Terriermon be silly. Never again will I see Rika's scorn and jealousy of Ryo. Never again will I see Jeri's utter determination and sheer depression. They're gone...My friends have moved away...

Of course, I'm exaggerating quite a bit, but it's still quite sad to see these people who I've brought into my mind and my heart go. To me, that is the beauty of anime. Japanese animation accomplishes something that I have very rarely seen American animators do. While I could care less about most American cartoons, Japan has somehow managed to evolve animation into a valid and important storytelling medium. They truly have resepect for cartoons and can easily evoke from a cartoon the same emotions that you get out of a large budget movie or an epic book. When you start watching a really good anime (and there are quite a few), you start a journey that could end up changing your life. You get to meet a cast of characters that are instantly likeable and behave a lot like normal people would. You can really relate to the hardships and obstacles that these people have to face, and you really start to fall in love with them. You look forward to seeing what they'll do next and watching them grow and mature as human beings as they triumph over hardships. These people become a part of you and when it's over, a small part of you dies, because you know that you'll never get to see your friends anymore. I imagine it's something like watching your children go off to college...

I guess a good example of this that most people would be familiar with are the Harry Potter books. Everyone who has enjoyed a Harry Potter book knows that the appeal is from watching Harry Potter grow from a muggle to a full-fledged wizard and discover more about a world that he has always been part of, yet knows nothing about. You can literally see him growing into his pre-determined role in life as he continues his education at Hogwarts. But did you ever stop to think about the end of the journey? We're on book 4 right now, but what's going to happen at the end of book 7? Right now it seems like Harry's always going to be a part of our lives, but as soon as book 7 is published and released to the public, the journey will end. The story of Harry Potter will be over. There will be nothing more to write about, nor will there be anything left to read. We will never get to see what happens to him or his friends as they gets even older and wiser. Pretty depressing, huh? This morning, that is what I experienced as I watched the end of Digimon Tamers.

The ending itself was a little dissapointing. It was good, but it could have been better. There were epic battles, huge monsters, emotional breakthrus, the reunion of old friends, and even a little questioning of humanity and life. The first 40 minutes were good and filled with typical Digimon battles. Good stuff all around. However, the ending and the destruction of the D-Reaper was somewhat anti-climatic. I was expecting another pooling of resources and powers into a final ultimate weapon like they always do with the final bad guy, but instead it was just some plan being implimented by some programmers who created the first Digimon. Out of four Mega-level Biomerged Digimon, there was only one who really defeated the D-Reaper, one who rescued a girl, and two that just kinda stood around. As the D-Reaper vanished, there was a monologue by one of the programmers that questioned whether the D-REaper was really taht much different from humans and pondered where humanity was going. It reminded me a lot of the ending of Terminator 2. After that, the Digimon had to say bye and return to the Digital World, because they no longer had a purpose in the Human World. Lots of crying faces all around and it was supposed to be touching, but for some reason, it wasn't. I think it was because it happened to quickly and happened to quickly after the defeat of the D-Reaper. I think there should have been some general celebration after the defeat and congratulations by the scientists for the kids' bravery. Then the Digimon should have started to dissapear and good-byes should have been drawn out just a little longer. Takato promises Guilmon that they'll play again someday. I guess it was somewhat touching. Bittersweet to say the least. Then Takato talks about how life went back to normal pretty quickly, and then one day he discovers that the passage to the Digital World has re-opened and he can say hello to his friend again. However, this ending segment should have been drawn out a little longer too. We didn't even get to see Henry, Ryo, or Rika! It would have been nice if they could have at least had a small part in the final "it's all over" scene. It just seemed a little...incomplete. The last image of Takato with a huge grin on his face was pretty touching, but it would have been nice if I had seen a glimpse of how the other characters readjusted to life in Japan. Oh well, it was still enjoyable, and I'm definitely gonna miss it. At the same time, I don't know if I'm looking forward to Digimon Frontier (next season). Still, I said the same thing about Digimon Tamers when I first heard about it, and look how that turned out.

Oh yeah, if you remember a few entries ago, you might remember that I was somewhat frightened by hearing the words "You are under arrest" on the preview for the season final of DT. (sigh) It was completely wasted. Did not have any significance at all in the show. In fact, it would have made more sense if that particular scene didn't ever happen. (sigh) Oh well...

And I'm also sad that I missed Reccacon. :(

(sigh)

Quotes of the day: "YOU DON'T DESERVE TO EXIST...." -D-Reaper
"You love sports, horses, and gambling, but not to excess." - A fortune cookie I got....abnormally specific for a fortune cookie...