EXE Re-Watch: Ep 5 - Netto vs the GIANT FLYING ROBOT SHARK

[Marisa]

Download available HERE, thanks so much, Saito-kun!

I had completely forgotten this episode existed.

That's a good thing, though It means that I had forgotten enough about this episode to enjoy it as if I were watching it for the first time.

Episode 5 - Challenge of the Fish Brigade! It's another example of the great writng this show has. Granted, it's very mediocre in terms of the plot, as it's just a filler episode. But despite that, it still manages to stay fun while keeping a sense of mystery.

This episode opens again with Masa's crazyness, stalking Netto and co as per the usual. For a fisheman, this guy sure spends a lot of his time not fishing. PERHAPS HE HAS A SIDE JOB TAKING UP HIS TIME. HMM...

Masa raises some good points about how the kids should quit playing video games and go outside (*cough*) and the show makes it pretty easy to identify with either party. I mean, the show is marketed to kids, so of course the children are going to be like "Yeah Masa! Leave Netto alone! Whooo video games!" But I guess my maternal instincts are kicking in, since I kind of agree with Masa. (And yet don't practice what I preach. Oops...)

He does get the kids to go along with him, though. Masa's role and personality is pretty well-developed, especially impressive considering how much screen time he's had so far. At first glance he looks like the typical village idiot, but he really only looks that way because he's so "out of touch" with modern times. (*cough*) He's pretty smart when you get down to it, and the kids seem to genuinely like him, even if they think he's a little strange.

Meanwhile, in the Negaverse, Queen Beryl ridicules the Four Generals in-- no, no, wait, got confused there. Once again, the villains get only a passing mention in the show, if only to remind us that they're there. Yeah, this show has villains! Just reiminding you! Okay, back to the main characters.

I jumped when that robot fish swam by. This episode was crazy. How are they swimming in the air? How do real-life fish attributes apply to robots? Or for that matter, digital jellyfish? How is any of this even plausible? Who cares? Netto's being chased by a giant flying robot shark. THIS IS AWESOME. The only thing that could make it more awesome would be if that shark had an eyepatch, or maybe a chainsaw.

Netto vs. the Giant Squid was especially awesome. Just... walk under it, and we're done! Urotsukudoji Reference: Successfully Avoided. The same could not be said for poor, poor Rockman. Tentacle'd!

I like how it's not explicitly stated that Masa knows more about netbattling than he's letting on. Sharkman is kept ambiguous -- hero or villain? Who knows? Well, I do, but for the sake of narrative, I have no idea. While it's kind of obvious that Masa was the one who threw the Elec Sword chip with the fish bone... shuriken... thing, it's still not shoved in our faces like "HEY LOOK MASA KNOWS HOW TO NETBATTLE LOOK LOOK!" Kudos to the writers for knowing that kiddies can pick up on subtlety. KUDOS. Slowly but surely leading us to accept the concept of Commander Beef... you sly, sneaky dogs, you.

All in all, mediocre episode compared to the others, but that's still spectacular compared to other series out there. ^____^
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[Saito-kun]

Ah, this oldy. I remember getting this in a part1 part2 part3 part4 et cetera .rar way back in the day. Pretty sure it was from a spanish site (looked long and hard for the precious EXE. XD)

This episode is weird. O_o The animation is pretty bad. I guess I'll just list nitpicks. ^_^ The elec-sword does NOT extend. Does NOT extend. >_> This is the most frustrating thing in all of the EXE episodes to me! XD I think they were just lazy this episode or something. Why do Sharkman's eyes glow red if he's not a bad guy? What the heck did he mean by the sentence about luring Rockman into the virus battle? Was he testing him? (That sentence is one of the great EXE mysteries ). Why didn't Rockman just jump out of the water in the first place? Why is he so slow at aiming his buster? How can he jump out of the water and fly backwards so easily? Especially after being hit over and over? O________o

Does Masa-san look like a fish to anyone else in the last scene where he's standing on the tower? X) I had a few more things to mention but I watched it last night and right now I'm in the middle of an English essay. XD I'll skim the ep again later and see if I can remember.

Yea, not the best of episodes, but it's EXE, so.... <3



... Masa-san FTW.

[NetOperator Wibby]

Hey guys, I'm a little late to the episode rewatches so can there be a kind of repository or list of the episode downloads posted in one of the forums?
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[Saito-kun]

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KE5GW91S
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=M189GSZ3
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=c052e0cc0c7861cd6e7203eb87368129e04e75f6e8ebb871
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=51b7aadfb3ddff9a8d78a0e555291609e04e75f6e8ebb871

From now on, if I continue to be the uploader, they should be available via the last link. ^_^

[NetOperator Wibby]

Do you mean to say that they will all be in the same folder group on MediaFire?
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[Saito-kun]

They should be.

[Marisa]

Saito-kun, I finally got my torrent working so I do have half the series right now. Do you still want to be the uploader, though, just for the sake of consistency? That way, it will all be in the folder for everyone to grab.
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[Saito-kun]

Whatever is fine with me.

[Blue]

Because I was visiting a college one week and vacationing the next, I completely missed the last two discussion posts. Almost missed this one because of "omg I need to study my liiiines ;_;" Condensed opinions on those: I think Yaito was playing up her cultured-ness to seem cooler and more like someone the other kids would look up to, it's not that Madoi and Color are forgettable as much as Coloredman has the more in-your-face personality of the two (unlike Hino and Fire and Elec and... Elec, where the Navis' personalities pale in comparison to their Operators), and all in all, I like all four additions to the cast.

Next one! With the N1 and having all those characters to focus on, I think they did the right thing making Higure not part of the WWW. It was the cleaner answer in terms of plot. If Higure ditched the WWW in the anime, I'm sure there would've been some kind of consequence--Wily and the WWW going after him in particular, maybe--and that would've put a lot of focus on him, which would probably have meant less of a focus on Netto's group (who were all major characters throughout original EXE) or the Net Agents (who were a big deal in Area One). Besides, he's still a main character. I wouldn't sacrifice, say, episode 8 for more of Higure when he shows up so much in the rest of EXE as is. Also, the secret base makes its debut! Numberman's voice still has the metallic ring added to it, which I miss in Axess onward--he sounds too much like Higure otherwise. I like the plot and how so many characters get a large part, like Roll putting in the passwords, Rockman defending, or Netto doing the running around (just like the games!)...

Now, time for this week's! All I remember from the last time I saw it is that I came away thinking that it didn't make any sense. Let's see if I fare better this time!

Wow, Masa is pretty leet if he can make it past Yaito's security to find her secret base.

Masa's gonna show them how to REALLY play! Only they completely miss the point. XD I like how most of the time, Meiru's got this "haha, typical Masa..." grin on her face.

ow, crotch'd. Whoops, it's WWW time! Wily replays their humiliation at Rockman's hands. For shame, guys! And we see more of their true and crazy colors.

okay, so now the viruses appear, the fish start going wild...

The kids are pooped. Yaito threatens to get Masa kicked out of town, but nobody else seems that upset. Besides, he's investigating the WWW, I bet he can't get kicked out. Everyone else seems like they're actually interested in Masa's lesson, but Netto's bored. Ha, ha, Rockman's on Masa's side. Netto's so bored, he almost misses the flying fish.

okay, so the plan's the WWW's, and the fish are running around smashing windows.

Meiru tells us of Masa's stupidity and Beef's secret smarts--when you put on a veneer of being completely technology-illiterate, you're the last person anyone would suspect of heading up a secret branch of the Net Police.

Masa slices the robofish open like a true seafood master! Netto and Yaito (why Glyde and not Gutsman or Roll? It's not like he can put up much of a fight on his own.) plug in.

there's Sharkman's fin. He doesn't seem to be controlled by Masa/Beef at all here--the kids are with him at all times, when did he have the opportunity to slip off and plug Sharkman in? Much less have Sharkman get there first? O_o I guess right before the robofish comes at them, he could've run off and done it, but that's pretty fast. Sharkman uses Fin Cutter, Rockman jumps to evade, and Sharkman dives back in. The floor gives way under Rockman, and he falls into the water. Glowy red eyes of evil! :O

The WWW either aren't concerned by Sharkman or haven't noticed him, which is odd. They just order around the Jelly viruses.

Rockman's in trouble, so are the Operators, and Glyde proves why he was a bad choice by being unable to help in either case. Seconding the awesomeness of the shark. Masa shows off his mad fish knowledge! ...only to attract the shark's attention again. ^_^;

Sharkman is still watching. Did he just block two of the Jellies? If so, why not help out Rockman or attack? Rockman jumps out. Thanks for nothing, Glyde. The Jellies make a giant Jelly. At least Rockman's on the surface now.

Masa distracts the shark while Netto goes to give Rockman battlechips at the Aquarium.

The Jelly is too fast for--OH MY GOD TENTACLES.

A squid blocks the entrace, but Netto is fast liek ninja! Rockman is saved from the tentacles! Slice n' dice, Rockman! :D But it regenerates. Now it's using Tsunami.

Netto's first uncommon Battlechip: Elec Sword, c/o Beef! Cue theme song. Considering the focus Masa gets, especially concerning him and fish, the fishiness of the knife the Elec Sword came on, and Sharkman being aquatic (not to mention the shark knowledge part), it's pretty obvious he's got something to do with all this. The unspoiled viewer just doesn't know exactly what yet.

Sharkman has changed sides, and holds the Jelly down while Rockman impales it. He apologizes for dragging Rockman "into that trouble with the computer virus. I don't believe in being lenient to others." Now he sounds more like a rival. The fish are lifeless. Netto says he owes his victory to Masa... more than he knows. The fisherman in question has wound up on top of a radio tower with the shark! He looks dramatically into the sunset as the episode ends and I'm left... a little shaky here and there, but better off than last time. ^_^

I think this is just supposed to add to the mystery that is the Net Agents--heck, just the Masa thing, as I don't think Sharkman says he's a Net Agent. But Sharkman is made out to be so mysterious that it'd probably bug me less if I didn't know about him being a Net Agent and Masa's Navi--in that context, there are some WTF moments in here. I don't think he meant to make Rockman face the Jellies. He fired that Fin Cutter, yes, but he didn't expect the floor to give way. I think he just wanted Rockman to keep his nose out of Net Agent business. But why did he just leave Rockman to get beaten up? He knew Netto wasn't coming any time soon... But WHATEVER. I enjoy this one a lot more if I just go with the flow and focus on the lulz.

I like the Net Agent thing when there really is no reason for Netto to know these people are Agents. When it's toggled on and off/the 'OMG SEKRIT' part is dragged on (he knows in the N1! It's not brought up in Area Two! He doesn't know in Axess, but everyone else does!?) I don't like it, and because that's what happens later on, it's what sticks with me instead of stuff like this. Also, I like Masa more every time I rewatch EXE, and I wish they would've kept him around--it's not like Yaito, where I can see their reasons for writing her out. I think he and the Agents could've fit in Axess, maybe as advisors or partners of some kind to the Saviors. Oh, well.