User Reviews

As befits the finale of any story arc, "The Crest of Kindness" ranks as one of the very best episodes of this anime, containing virtually everything that makes this series standout. The action and animation take a significant jump from what was seen before, with minimal recycled footage, a few shots where Kimeramon looks positively feral and some really neat explosions. Beyond that, this episode builds upon the emotional aspects of "The Darkness Before Dawn", with Ken's imbalance culminating in a horrified realization of his past actions that is bolstered by Wormmon's "death". In a mere 3 episodes, "Digimon 02" managed to incorporate one of the major themes of "Digimon Tamers", but with more humanity and definitiveness. The heroes trying to convince Ken of the error of his ways is a significant development in the hero/villain dynamic, and will provide the driving force for much of the remaining season. Finally, the whole Matt/June subplot reaches a fitting and quite funny conclusion. As strange as it sounds, I think there is something insightful about this subplot. I would say there are only two problems. First, the stale desert setting, which is nowhere near as prominent as before, but compared to the other settings in the episode stands out as a real blotch in quality. Second, it's kind of contrived that Hiroaki would simply take the younger kids home without question. Sure, it's not hard to believe that they simply said that they took the bus the previous night, since Hiroaki was in the cabin most of the time, but would showing that explanation have been too much of a hassle? I'm willing to forgive this in light of the strong run that has been going on. All in all, an excellent conclusion to the first story arc of "Digimon 02" that asks just enough questions to leave one intrigued.