Digimon Savers / Digimon Data Squad

[Wisemon]

why does the main character needs to take what appears to be data from an enemy before Agumon evolves unlike the other two character's digimon who not need such a thing to advance further.

I think he needs the contact. The punch starts things.

Masaru is pretty cool in my opinion. He's a straight up tribute to all the stubborn, relentless Goggle boys, and his will to never fail is a great trait to have in the team. He is of course the brawn of the team. The brains obviously are Touma and I think his deductive and analytical skills are awesome. They are the perfect team up too, they both are solid in their decisions and once they can work as a unit will be a solid team.

When you put it that way, maybe I can see my way to liking them, but as you've also pointed out, they're just too lobsided in personalities. In fact, they seem to be almost exactly like Takuya and Kouji from Frontier. One is hotheaded, and the other is a machine. It's the same formula. Takuya and Kouji were worthless without Junpei, Izumi, and Tomoki. So where are the characters with depth in this season?