Digimon Adventure 2020 Episode 11 [Anime Episode Review]

Welcome, everyone, to my continued weekly review series for the 2020 reboot of Digimon Adventure! I’ve been excited for this one, because the episode title gave away which Ultimate Digimon we were going to get to see and, well, it’s one of my favourites. So, let’s dive right into it.

The Wolf Standing Atop The Desert: Recap

The episode was bookended by a look at what the team taking the Northern path are up to. So, at the start, we got to see Taichi, Koshiro and Mimi climb a wall and find another set of ruins. At the end, we saw them inside the ruins. Koshiro was taking pictures of symbols on the walls. Mimi accidentally pressed a hidden button, causing the floor to break underneath her.

The main part of the episode though followed Yamato, Sora, and Joe. We kicked this off with Birdramon carrying a basket containing the aforementioned kids and their partners. She was attacked by a couple of Sandyammamon though, who summoned a mass of dust devils, causing them to land in the desert. The Sandyammamon were unable to do much damage though, as a massive tail with a knife-like tip swooped out from the sad and killed them.

The kids wondered if it might be an ally, but that thought was soon pushed away. A trio of Kyaromon appeared and were attacked by the tail and some pincers, forcing the heroes into action. Yamato ordered the others to take the Kyaromon and run, and he and Garurumon attacked their foe. The wolf was too quick to get caught and managed to land a hard blow that allowed us a brief glimpse of the monster beneath the surface.

Later, we saw that Gabumon wasn’t hurt, but was worried they may be facing another Ultimate Digimon. They all enter a cave where a Neamon is leading a Bearmon and some Labramon. He thanked them for saving the Kyaromon and asked if they were heading to Leomon’s place too. Sora asked who Leomon is and Neamon explained that the land is being taken over by vicious Digimon wrapped in dark miasma. Leomon is leading an army against them and while they’re too weak to fight, they’d at least be protected with him. The problem is, they need to cross the desert.

Sora suggested they should help, but Yamato wasn’t sure they should. They had their own mission after all, and this would slow them down. He also asked Sora if she truly believed she could protect them all. In the end, Sora and Joe decided to stay while Yamato left. Gabumon asked Yamato if he’s going to tell the others about himself, as they won’t understand if he doesn’t, and he doesn’t need to do it all alone. Yamato replied, “I have you. That’s all I need.”

So, Birdramon and Ikkakumon attempted a crossing with the stranded Digimon. It didn’t go well. Between the number of Sandyammamon and the power of Scorpiomon, they were outgunned. It wasn’t long until Scorpiomon tried to kill Sora either, but she was saved at the last moment by Garurumon. Scorpiomon now rose out of the sand.

The wolf used his speed again and landed a direct hit, but it didn’t even scratch his foe, and he ended up trapped in his pincers. Yamato thought back to what Sora had said and his own question to her. He remembered what he and Taichi achieved in the first episodes, and what happened at the fortress. That caused his crest to appear on his Digivice and Garurumon evolved to Weregarurumon.

Weregarurumon started literally taking Scorpiomon apart here. He stopped an attack with two fingers and destroyed his tail with a chop. A kick combo and a punch destroyed an arm. Then, a Kaiser Nail killed the monster.

The desert now safe, Neamon led his friends away and left the kdis to continue their journey to find the Holy Digimon. Yamato finally opened up and explained that his little brother Takeru lives in Tokyo. He said he’s sure he’s afraid and when he thinks of that, he can’t stand still. He doesn’t know why they were chosen, but if he can help his brother live in peace, he will.

The Wolf Standing Atop The Desert: Recap

Now, where do I begin? The start and end scenes were fun. Mimi was whining, but without being annoying, and her actions to set up the next episode were fun. The main story this week though was excellent.

Weregarurumon looks as awesome as ever and came across as a total badass in the battle with Scorpiomon. Gabumon’s evolution line was my favourite in the original series, and it was super disappointing to find out that Weregarurumon had been removed from the PSOne Digimon World in the West for being ‘too scary’. So, any chance to see him in action again is welcome. At the same time, we also got to some Yamato opening up a bit more. He’s slowly beginning to treat the others like friends, which will be important as the series progresses. His telling Gabumon that he’s all he needs was really sweet too.

Sora was, in a way, both different to Yamato and the same this week. She was very much lead by her heart when she chose to protect those weaker than herself, and at first, it seemed she was roe compassionate than Yamato. When you get the reveal about Takeru, it shows that Yamato was doing the same, his focus was just elsewhere. The main thing is though, I thought Sora showed some leadership potential here. She’s maybe not as capable of making the harder decisions yet, but she’s focused when she has a goal in mind.

We also got a nice little snippet of information when we learned about the spread of the dark miasma. That makes it clear that we’ll be seeing more of the mysterious substance as we go along. From what was said, I’m also assuming that Leomon will eventually be an ally for the kids in their battle. Which, of course, means he’s going to do what Leomon does and get himself killed.

Visually, this was another decent outing. The Kyaromon were absolutely adorable. They reminded me of Viximon but with different markings. Definitely the sort of character you could see as a cute plushie. Scorpiomon, meanwhile, was genuinely very monstrous. I feel like the show is doing a decent job with body language too. Yamato, Sora and Joe all felt very different from each other in that regard. Oh, and the music was great again too. The heroic theme that they use during tide-turning moments in big battles is wonderful.

So, overall, I thought this was a fantastic episode. I liked the growth for Yamato, I’m always happy to see them giving this version of Sora some screen time, we had a cute tiny Digimon in peril, and Weregarurumon kicked arse. What more could I want, really?

But those are just my thoughts. What did you think of these episodes? Let me know in the comments below.

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