01-02-2004, 05:11 PM
I think there are certain 'ideal' values in the show that can be aimed for, which I'll get to later. There are several great concepts I'd love to explore, but don't have the time to write all of them as their own stories. Among the ideas:
Negative Crests that are opposites of the orignal 'positive' versions, which are used to bring balance back to the Digital World after Zero Two, where Light endd up being the unbalancing force.
The Digital World is an organized system, and the Kids and Digimon are "rebel agents", trying to bring down the corrupt powers that control the system. The humans are in danger because if they're found by the system, they'll be killed.
The 'Dark Ocean' world being explored by a team of Chosen Kids, preferably from America.
A follow-up to Tamers, with a more involving and emotional plotline, and still involving the original Tamers -- don't introduce new ones, unless they're from a Gaiden series...
Gaiden, or side-stories, from the original three seasons. Posit the existence of new Chosen Children, possibly from America (or any country but Japan), and set their adventures in the same time-frame as the original three seasons. If successful, do a Gaiden continuation of Zero Two (see number three in this list) and involve the Gaiden characters from Tamers in a normal continuation of that series as well (number four in this list).
Those are some of my ideas -- I do have plans for Adventure, Zero Two, and Tamers Gaiden stories, I've started all three of them. I also have a story planned to follow Zero Two Gaiden (called World of Darkness; see Number 3 in my list of ideas), and a continuation of Tamers which (as in Number 4 above) does involve my Gaiden characters, it's called The Digital Matrix.
As for my "ideal" values for a Digimon series, I've found there is clear space for difficulties whether you create a cast of 8 pairs or not. But the more characters there are, the less development they get in one year's worth of 20-minute shows, or one "season's worth" of writing. Too many hcracater also leads to scenes where a certain character may seem to be ignored, simply because they have nothing ot contribute.
Three, on the other hand, is often too few for a solid series. A series can be written about three people, but the world must be built to allow for such a series, which Digimon often is not, even in Tamers. With 5 or 8 you can divide them into teams that can move separately, with 3 you cannot. Even considerign the added muscle of Juri/Leomon and Hirokazu/Guardromon, they weren't well enough developed -- during the Digital World arc -- to make a proper team. And Ryo was never properly developed inside of Tamers, at least for American viewers.
I find that Three can make a sturdy series, if given a solid supporting cast that doesn't become overly involved. But the IDEAL number of characters has long been present in Hero Teams -- Leader, Muscle, Brains, and two or three back-up characters (usually "Cool" and "Rich", with "Stalth" for a third backup). The sentai style of shows in Japan pioneered this very well, occasionally using less and occassionally using more. But even before then American knew it worked -- the X-Men and Avengers are classic examples of this formula. In the classic X-Men, Cyclops led, Beast was 'muscle', Marvel Girl was 'brains', Iceman was supposed to be 'Cool', and the Angel was 'rich'. This works well for a series focused on any sort of team, including Digimon.
In this, I believe that Zero Two and Frontier were partially ideal seasons. However both met with flaws -- the greatest of which was that they turned into Sentai Series, with a "one-year war" formula which had to be wrapped up quickly -- too quickly in both cases. Though it worked reasonably with Frontier, at least in my opinion, it did not work so well with Zero Two. The epilogue to Zero Two could have been sacrificed to give a better conclusion to the events of Zero Two, or another episode added to allow for both elements to be utilized. Character Development fell during the last half of Zero Two as well, focusing too heavily on Ichijouji and not the rest of the characters -- Frontier fell into the same trap after Kouichi was introduced, but they still maintained the balance of action that was necessary for a good 'Sentai' series.
I believe that Tamers could have built upon the foundations of Zero Two to create an excellent story by givng a good supporting cast instead of giving almost no character to the Supporting Cast. Ryou, Hirokazu, and Kenta could have become an excellent backup to the Primary Tamers, but they failed in the respect. I feel that Takato was unjustly considered the leader, but the only appropriate one, since Ruki was 'muscle' and Jenrya was 'brains'. That left two characters vying for 'cool' and nobody to cover the fifth spot, whether 'rich' or 'stealth' -- Kenta was a secondary "brains" and Shiuchon was 'cavalry', and not enough to matter.
I'm ranting now, this is why I don't like to talk too much -- because I talk too much. Tamers had the best overall plot, left space where a sequel could have been placed, and then went over kids' heads by getting too scientific. Frontier tried to make up for it by being a sentai series, but failed. Adventure and Zero Two were the biggest successes in the Digimon series, Tamers was great until D-Reaper and the Monster Makers showed up, and Frontier was an apology for the flaws of Tamers. "International", or whatever the fifth season ends up being called, has to be able to kindle interest in a large enough fanbase to make up for the declining popularity of the show lately, and if the fans can't agree on what they want in "International", how can Toei know if they'll have a working formula? I'd like to see either a continuation of Zero Two or Tamers, or else a Gaiden series, which I feel is best suited to Tamers. For something new, though, I'd like to see something akin to my Digimon Revolution concept, with the Neo Savers and a system that's hunting them down... But I'd also like Toei to focus the next season to teens and young adults instead of children, which I doubt will happen.
Ideals for Digimon --
1a) A 'sentai' style story AND team, because you can't have one work well without the other. OR
1b) A pet-moster/Tamer style story (please no... please, please no). Would work best if based on V-Tamer and/or Digimon Chronicle (yep, the comics).
2) Something that is enjoyable to kids and teens and young adults -- even if you aren't targeting teens and young adults, they might watch it with siblings/children, and if they like it they might tell friends about it.
3) Solid characterization and development -- we don't need the Ken of Kouichi style development, just normal growth of characters through their trials.
4) ROMANTIC PAIRING[S] -- Even though these aren't necessary for kids, they can catch the interest of viewers from all ages. If you have even one female human, include some sort of romantic issue or complication in the storyline of the series.
5) A solid, but not overdeveloped, Supporting Cast. Even if there are only three kids, a PROPER supporting cast can overcome the flaws inherent, so long as they are NOT overdone.
Any ideas on this? Yes, I think Eight pairs is too many, and three is probably too few in a kids show -- You go, pretty much, with a focus on 1 main character or 5/6. Otherwise the story gets tangled. This doesn't apply if they choose a more episodic style akin to Pokemon for telling the stories, though.
Negative Crests that are opposites of the orignal 'positive' versions, which are used to bring balance back to the Digital World after Zero Two, where Light endd up being the unbalancing force.
The Digital World is an organized system, and the Kids and Digimon are "rebel agents", trying to bring down the corrupt powers that control the system. The humans are in danger because if they're found by the system, they'll be killed.
The 'Dark Ocean' world being explored by a team of Chosen Kids, preferably from America.
A follow-up to Tamers, with a more involving and emotional plotline, and still involving the original Tamers -- don't introduce new ones, unless they're from a Gaiden series...
Gaiden, or side-stories, from the original three seasons. Posit the existence of new Chosen Children, possibly from America (or any country but Japan), and set their adventures in the same time-frame as the original three seasons. If successful, do a Gaiden continuation of Zero Two (see number three in this list) and involve the Gaiden characters from Tamers in a normal continuation of that series as well (number four in this list).
Those are some of my ideas -- I do have plans for Adventure, Zero Two, and Tamers Gaiden stories, I've started all three of them. I also have a story planned to follow Zero Two Gaiden (called World of Darkness; see Number 3 in my list of ideas), and a continuation of Tamers which (as in Number 4 above) does involve my Gaiden characters, it's called The Digital Matrix.
As for my "ideal" values for a Digimon series, I've found there is clear space for difficulties whether you create a cast of 8 pairs or not. But the more characters there are, the less development they get in one year's worth of 20-minute shows, or one "season's worth" of writing. Too many hcracater also leads to scenes where a certain character may seem to be ignored, simply because they have nothing ot contribute.
Three, on the other hand, is often too few for a solid series. A series can be written about three people, but the world must be built to allow for such a series, which Digimon often is not, even in Tamers. With 5 or 8 you can divide them into teams that can move separately, with 3 you cannot. Even considerign the added muscle of Juri/Leomon and Hirokazu/Guardromon, they weren't well enough developed -- during the Digital World arc -- to make a proper team. And Ryo was never properly developed inside of Tamers, at least for American viewers.
I find that Three can make a sturdy series, if given a solid supporting cast that doesn't become overly involved. But the IDEAL number of characters has long been present in Hero Teams -- Leader, Muscle, Brains, and two or three back-up characters (usually "Cool" and "Rich", with "Stalth" for a third backup). The sentai style of shows in Japan pioneered this very well, occasionally using less and occassionally using more. But even before then American knew it worked -- the X-Men and Avengers are classic examples of this formula. In the classic X-Men, Cyclops led, Beast was 'muscle', Marvel Girl was 'brains', Iceman was supposed to be 'Cool', and the Angel was 'rich'. This works well for a series focused on any sort of team, including Digimon.
In this, I believe that Zero Two and Frontier were partially ideal seasons. However both met with flaws -- the greatest of which was that they turned into Sentai Series, with a "one-year war" formula which had to be wrapped up quickly -- too quickly in both cases. Though it worked reasonably with Frontier, at least in my opinion, it did not work so well with Zero Two. The epilogue to Zero Two could have been sacrificed to give a better conclusion to the events of Zero Two, or another episode added to allow for both elements to be utilized. Character Development fell during the last half of Zero Two as well, focusing too heavily on Ichijouji and not the rest of the characters -- Frontier fell into the same trap after Kouichi was introduced, but they still maintained the balance of action that was necessary for a good 'Sentai' series.
I believe that Tamers could have built upon the foundations of Zero Two to create an excellent story by givng a good supporting cast instead of giving almost no character to the Supporting Cast. Ryou, Hirokazu, and Kenta could have become an excellent backup to the Primary Tamers, but they failed in the respect. I feel that Takato was unjustly considered the leader, but the only appropriate one, since Ruki was 'muscle' and Jenrya was 'brains'. That left two characters vying for 'cool' and nobody to cover the fifth spot, whether 'rich' or 'stealth' -- Kenta was a secondary "brains" and Shiuchon was 'cavalry', and not enough to matter.
I'm ranting now, this is why I don't like to talk too much -- because I talk too much. Tamers had the best overall plot, left space where a sequel could have been placed, and then went over kids' heads by getting too scientific. Frontier tried to make up for it by being a sentai series, but failed. Adventure and Zero Two were the biggest successes in the Digimon series, Tamers was great until D-Reaper and the Monster Makers showed up, and Frontier was an apology for the flaws of Tamers. "International", or whatever the fifth season ends up being called, has to be able to kindle interest in a large enough fanbase to make up for the declining popularity of the show lately, and if the fans can't agree on what they want in "International", how can Toei know if they'll have a working formula? I'd like to see either a continuation of Zero Two or Tamers, or else a Gaiden series, which I feel is best suited to Tamers. For something new, though, I'd like to see something akin to my Digimon Revolution concept, with the Neo Savers and a system that's hunting them down... But I'd also like Toei to focus the next season to teens and young adults instead of children, which I doubt will happen.
Ideals for Digimon --
1a) A 'sentai' style story AND team, because you can't have one work well without the other. OR
1b) A pet-moster/Tamer style story (please no... please, please no). Would work best if based on V-Tamer and/or Digimon Chronicle (yep, the comics).
2) Something that is enjoyable to kids and teens and young adults -- even if you aren't targeting teens and young adults, they might watch it with siblings/children, and if they like it they might tell friends about it.
3) Solid characterization and development -- we don't need the Ken of Kouichi style development, just normal growth of characters through their trials.
4) ROMANTIC PAIRING[S] -- Even though these aren't necessary for kids, they can catch the interest of viewers from all ages. If you have even one female human, include some sort of romantic issue or complication in the storyline of the series.
5) A solid, but not overdeveloped, Supporting Cast. Even if there are only three kids, a PROPER supporting cast can overcome the flaws inherent, so long as they are NOT overdone.
Any ideas on this? Yes, I think Eight pairs is too many, and three is probably too few in a kids show -- You go, pretty much, with a focus on 1 main character or 5/6. Otherwise the story gets tangled. This doesn't apply if they choose a more episodic style akin to Pokemon for telling the stories, though.