1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,500 This is MJ. I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer. You can find all my work at MJMunoz.com. 2 00:00:05,500 --> 00:00:12,000 Welcome to Digimon Chronicles Episode 23, where I'm talking about Digimon Dreamers, the manga, Chapter 3. 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:16,000 And I have to say, folks, my burgers! 4 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:22,000 Anyway, I really love the comedic tone of this manga. I don't know why. 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:29,500 Like, I'm pretty, uh, I pretty much, you know, well, you may or may not know this, because this could be your first episode. 6 00:00:29,500 --> 00:00:36,000 I have this thing that I'm kind of uniting all my content under, which is Story Over Everything. 7 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:49,000 And that's the name of my writing podcast, where I talk about story and my writing and my process as a writer, you know, putting myself to be, you know, well, you know. 8 00:00:49,000 --> 00:01:03,500 The Story Over Everything podcast is where I chronicle my journey as an author, artist, and analyzer, as I'm trying to make myself into a successful author, entrepreneur, I guess you could say. 9 00:01:03,500 --> 00:01:14,000 So anyway, but yeah, Story Over Everything, I kind of have it tagged on everything that I'm doing, including this Digimon Dreamers, or including Digimon Chronicles, 10 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:25,500 because I really care about the stories here in whatever media I consume. It's not just, oh, these graphics are amazing, or that guy's so cool, or anything like that. 11 00:01:25,500 --> 00:01:37,500 Is the story good or not? And that's why I can take seriously and, like, you know, cry about Gabumon and his love for Matt in Season 1 of Digimon, 12 00:01:37,500 --> 00:01:46,500 and pulling, I guess pulling him out of that cave of despair towards the end there, when Piedmont's wrecking stuff, and Sora gets stuck too. 13 00:01:46,500 --> 00:01:58,000 Like, oh man, all that stuff, I love so much. Like, there's such depth and beauty and amazing, like, emotional character arcs and character stories in Digimon, 14 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:05,000 even though it was just created to sell Tamagotchi, man. I mean, like, it's incredible what you can do with this stuff. 15 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:15,000 And being that that's my bent and that's my perspective, and I really, it's not that I want dramatic stories, I want good stories, and I think most, I personally think most good stories are dramatic. 16 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:24,000 But it doesn't have to be life or death stakes. It can be, you know, slice of life drama, or it can be end of the world drama, but I always love that personal connection here in the story. 17 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:38,000 Now, this Digimon Dreamers, so far, does not have any serious stakes. Unless you're talking about Tentamon, it's not Tentamon, it's Tantamon stakes. 18 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:48,000 I did not even put that together yet. Anyway, so like, there's no real stakes in it. It's just a fun, silly story with Digimon, who I'm nostalgic for, 19 00:02:48,000 --> 00:03:01,000 and Digimon, who I'm not nostalgic for, but that are growing on me. Pulsemon is adorable. I love Tantamon, Tantamon's one of the cutest Digimon designs ever, or cutest designs ever, period. 20 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:11,000 And, you know, Patamon's there and everything, so basically I'm just saying that despite the fact that I care so greatly about story, it's the most important thing in the world, 21 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:23,000 I'm also, well, that needs to be tempered with, is it entertaining? Because this silly Digimon manga, which is like a silly cartoon, is just entertaining as all get out. 22 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:39,000 I'm having such a good time with it, it's not asking a lot of me, it's not asking me to read 30 pages or 50 pages, it's like 9 pages, and it moves fast, and the, you know, even, I don't think they, well, any going off of model, 23 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:48,000 well, anyway, the characters are just drawn really nicely. Yabuno, I believe is his name, right, the manga cow here, or the artist, anyway, he's just doing a great job with these illustrations. 24 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:59,000 He does, you know, the silly squash and big eyes and whatever for, you know, manga, but that's part of the genre, that's part of the medium, and I expect that, I don't want to see that stuff in American comics. 25 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:17,000 Never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, I want Chon Rumiida, I want Mark Begley, I'm not going to go off, I really like Spider-Man, and I just like a few Spider-Man comic books, mostly of all, and I don't want to get distracted by that. 26 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:38,000 So, anyway, just, it's fun and entertaining, and the idea of Tanamon growing a meat field, which they're calling Cyprus Meat, which, because they're in Cyprus Town or whatever, that's their primary village, it's not primary village, but that's the little town where all these young Digimon, nobody above a rookie, lives. 27 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,400 That's like a really cute, really fun idea. 28 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:44,440 And, uh, like it's ridiculous that, you know, apparently Digimon... 29 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:47,980 Well, first of all, it's ridiculous that Digimon, like, their primary food is meat. 30 00:04:47,980 --> 00:04:50,640 Especially cause, well, I guess this is probably coming from the games. 31 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:57,840 I'm used to, uh, Digimon eating candy, Digimon eating, uh, sushi, Digimon eating ropes, you know? 32 00:04:57,840 --> 00:05:01,140 Come on, Armadillo-mon escaping from, uh, Sheriff-mon? Anyway. 33 00:05:02,140 --> 00:05:03,840 I guess that's what I'm used to with Digimon, so... 34 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:10,080 It's weird, uh, to see that apparently they only eat meat, which, uh, like, hey, I'm trying to... 35 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:15,340 Instead, if I ever talk to people who I diet, I won't say I'm doing carnivore. 36 00:05:15,340 --> 00:05:18,080 I'm doing the Digimon diet, and they'll be freaked out. Anyway. 37 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:23,040 Uh, so, yeah, they primarily eat meat and somehow, through selective breeding, 38 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:26,840 uh, Tana-mon has figured out how to grow meat straight from the ground, which... 39 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:28,840 Were they growing it from the ground before? 40 00:05:28,840 --> 00:05:33,840 Or were they growing it from some sort of animal that they... 41 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:37,340 Where was the meat coming from? Like, I have so many questions, but it doesn't matter, 42 00:05:37,340 --> 00:05:41,840 cause it's just meant for silly fun, and there might be, like, a legitimate answer to come from, uh, 43 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:48,840 come down the line, but, like, I don't care, cause it's funny and cute and fun, and, uh, yeah. 44 00:05:48,840 --> 00:05:52,340 I... I just be interdating, so that's all that really matters. 45 00:05:52,340 --> 00:05:55,840 But then, it has these weird dramatic flourishes, like, you know, 46 00:05:55,840 --> 00:06:00,840 Pulsimon's so excited about the meat, because, uh, he feels like the meat alone could help him to Digivolve. 47 00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:12,340 And then he and, uh, and the kid, Koto, somehow are, like, syncing up and, like, uh, becoming in sync, 48 00:06:12,340 --> 00:06:15,840 cause they're even eating the meat together, and, like, their hearts are stirring, 49 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:21,340 and their souls are, you know, fixated on evolution through meat, or Digivolution through meat consumption. 50 00:06:21,340 --> 00:06:26,840 Like, again, it's just really silly, but then we do get this nice edge at the end, 51 00:06:26,840 --> 00:06:29,840 where there's two, I can't remember what he's called, Demi-Devimon, right? 52 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:33,840 There's two Demi-Devimon carrying a monkey guy, who sure looks like the Monkey Deva, 53 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:38,840 except he's, like, kind of a caveman, little shirt outfit thing, and, uh, 54 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:41,840 I think that's called Kikimon, but I'll find out, I guess, soon. 55 00:06:41,840 --> 00:06:48,340 Uh, and then they go over to, um, to Ogremon, and that's kind of cool, like, so, 56 00:06:48,340 --> 00:06:52,840 and he wants the Cyprus meat, apparently, so, uh, like, 57 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:57,840 they're being spied on in that village, with Tanamon, and the meat-growing efforts are being spied on 58 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:03,840 by these, you know, more nefarious Digimon, and maybe they're gonna come along and attack them, 59 00:07:03,840 --> 00:07:09,840 because they want this great supply of meat, um, you know, to benefit themselves, 60 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:12,840 so they don't have to hunt, and they don't have to forage for it, or whatever, 61 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:17,340 and, like, that's kind of interesting, so, like, while it is very silly, 62 00:07:17,340 --> 00:07:22,840 there is still, like, the core thing that Pulsemon wants to Digivolve, 63 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:30,340 and you Digim- you Digivolve to, uh, get more powerful so you can, you know, protect somebody that you care about, 64 00:07:30,340 --> 00:07:35,340 or, uh, I guess just so you can be evil, which, uh, is always a possibility, 65 00:07:35,340 --> 00:07:40,340 but I think it's gonna turn into maybe an attack on Cyperstown, 66 00:07:40,340 --> 00:07:45,340 and there's gonna be something interesting and exciting going on, and even if it's, like, silly, like, 67 00:07:45,340 --> 00:07:50,340 we're here to steal your meat, and, uh, your Cypress meat, and then it- 68 00:07:50,340 --> 00:07:54,340 sorry, I just loved the joke so much, um, even if it's something like that, like, 69 00:07:54,340 --> 00:07:59,340 it could turn into, like, a hopscotch competition, or a tug of war, or, you know, 70 00:07:59,340 --> 00:08:04,340 we're gonna determine whether or not you get to steal the meat by, you know, sumo wrestling, 71 00:08:04,340 --> 00:08:10,340 and, uh, you know, then the little monkey goes and sumo wrestles with Pulsemon, like, it could be anything, right? 72 00:08:10,340 --> 00:08:16,340 It could be anything, and I kinda like- I think I'm enjoying the fact that it's so absurd, 73 00:08:16,340 --> 00:08:23,340 and that it could be anything, and that there's, like, this freedom of, uh, for, like, freedom to be silly 74 00:08:23,340 --> 00:08:30,340 in this- in this manga and in this story, um, and by virtue- I don't know if it's by virtue of that, 75 00:08:30,340 --> 00:08:34,340 but it happens to be very entertaining, and therefore, it works. It's kinda- 76 00:08:34,340 --> 00:08:42,340 oh, look at it, uh, yeah. I think, based on how entertaining it is, I'm accepting what's going on here. 77 00:08:42,340 --> 00:08:47,340 If it stops being entertaining and it just becomes, like, weird or dumb, then I'll complain about it, 78 00:08:47,340 --> 00:08:54,340 but for right now, I don't need a big dramatic story, because just the idea of Pulsemon pining for this dream, 79 00:08:54,340 --> 00:08:59,340 and, uh, Kodo helping him, you know, achieve it at some point, that's enough. 80 00:08:59,340 --> 00:09:06,340 That's enough to keep me going, and enough to keep me interested, uh, in going from gag to gag, basically. 81 00:09:06,340 --> 00:09:09,340 So, anyway. That's pretty cool. 82 00:09:09,340 --> 00:09:16,340 So, uh, with that, I hope that you're well. Uh, I wanna hear your thoughts on this manga, if you have any. 83 00:09:16,340 --> 00:09:21,340 I'd be really curious, uh, what you're thinking about it so far, and I guess maybe even what you'd like to see 84 00:09:21,340 --> 00:09:25,340 coming from it in the future, but I hope you're well. This is MJ, signing out. 85 00:09:25,340 --> 00:09:33,340 I hope you enjoyed that. Go to MJMunoz.com to leave any questions, comments, or other feedback you might have. 86 00:09:33,340 --> 00:09:37,340 There, you can find all of my analysis, art, and fiction. 87 00:09:37,340 --> 00:09:42,340 I cover books, tokusatsu, comic books, anime, and more. 88 00:09:42,340 --> 00:09:46,340 Look around, you're sure to find something else that you'll enjoy as well. 89 00:09:46,340 --> 00:09:56,340 This has been a Story Over Everything production.