Good but could better

[Guernsey]

I enjoy the EXE series as a whole but there are some things in the anime series that could had been better off gone.

EXE: I enjoy the attention the characters got and how everyone netbattled but some characters such as the Life Virus could had been handled better.

Axess: The anime was good overall but some of Lan's friends get shafted in favor of more Soul Unisons and cross fusion.

Stream: I liked Stream but Cross Fusions detract from show (Axess handled it better), there was pointless filler that didn't really add anything to the story, Duo and Slur were a bit on the Sueish side considering their motivations, villains like Dr. Regal, Forte and Dark Rockman could had been handled better and once again some characters get shafted for the cross fusion members.

Beast and Beast +: Beast was good although the show was rushed because Capcom changed the season at the last minute. If they had allowed Beast to continue with Beyondard plot as planned, Iris' cahracter would had been fleshed out out a little more and we would had more buildup towards the ending of Beast. Beast + as pointless until the Zero plot and I ahted the deus ex machina with Trill. The cross should had been utilized in Beast.

So what are your thougths on this?
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Guernsey Adams Pierre

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[Saito-kun]

EXE: Was EXE in its purest form, in my opinion. I agree that the Life Virus encounter was too minor. And also, my eternal complaint about no Saito returns. There were some things that weren't developed yet, but this held the spirit of the games and universe best.

Axess: Was almost as good as the original series. It still held the right atmosphere. A different one, but still good. The focus was still mainly on Netto and Rockman and the world still seemed cybery, unlike in Beast.

Stream: All that Cross Fusion going on, bleh. I didn't like the Neo World Three plot and characters and there was almost no variation in who the main duo were fighting. And it seemed all to often that the entire cross fusion team would take three minutes to do their cross fusion sequences, and then shoot maybe... oh I dunno, two buster blasts at the enemy and defeat them.

Beast: Whoa nelly, what happened? This didn't feel like a show about a kid and his cyber being friend. Weird weird storyline and elements set in a weird world. It was okay, but not great. They should have gone back in the direction of the first two series, not farther away.

Beast+: Confusing and short. Liked the battles but they were too short and there didn't seem to be much of an overarching storyline.

[Blue]

oh hay, I've got a little time again! Let me post some. (and half of this accidentally became Thread Derail: My Explanation of the Great EXE-to-Axess Write-Off. Oh well, not like we can't use the activity.)

EXE: The way the characters were set up worked great for Area One, but Area Two was where the old setup started falling apart. (I'd even go so far as to say the Great EXE-to-Axess Write-Off happened because of Area Two.) For me, the most prominent example of this was Enzan. In the games, it was fine to keep him away from the fold because he was an Official Netbattler and automatically had business anywhere there was trouble. In the anime, he's the vice president of a company. He's a cool opponent to have in a Netbattling tournament, but he's not the most practical thing for all-purpose EXE. He needed to become more like a part of the gang to work beyond that... and he didn't. IPC was very busy during Area Two--it was the only way besides happy coincidence they could involve Enzan in episodes. He's so uninvolved with the big picture, Blues gets next to nothing important accomplished against Gospel before he gets nommed. Considering he's a major player in the games? There's a problem there. Axess fixed it with his promotion to Net Savior--suddenly, he's more important than the gang, who seemed less important in the games starting with EXE4.

So if Enzan wasn't getting the screentime he should've, who was? All the wrong characters, that's who! EXE's main cast was full of characters who game-wise appeared in EXE1 and never again. More importantly, much as I hate to say it, the Net Agents' act was getting old; everyone knew who they were, even Netto. (And let's not forget that by the end of EXE, Netto was also making wireless extensions for his PET and having Rockman cut a Program Advance with a vanilla Sword--a bit beyond his gameverse self's capabilities. Needless to say, he got nerfed a little between EXE and Axess.) And the characters they were based off of, with the exception of Saloma, never got another appearance in an main EXE game. Same with Iceman--together with Tohru the game NPC--and most of the World Three.

I think there were much more subtle ways than the outright write-offs (and the creation of anime-only characters and organizations, way to showcase the games!) they did to patch those holes. Going to EXE3's plot, Shun could've been NWWW leader. To keep the WWW fresh, have some kind of jealousy/drama within the old ranks. (Hinoken defecting to the new guys to mirror the games?) Most importantly, Enzan could've kept warming up (just like he did in the first half of Axess!) to the point where some form of the Shuuseki-and-Sunayama thing would necessitate he and the gang join forces... and conveniently, he would stay in the gang, giving him the importance he needed. And of course, the Net Agents could be investigating stuff in a more background role--perhaps one of them could've been undercover in the NWWW ranks?

I'm sure it could also have been solved by dropping some characters sooner or not including them at all *coughTohrucough*. But I wouldn't want to change a thing about Area One.

Moving on to...

Axess: The other half of the blame for the EXE-to-Axess Write-Off belongs with the Net Saviors. The Net Saviors needed to look good, really good, or everyone would be wondering why they were needed. Why do you need the police when you've got Yaito, her cool secret base, and her maid army? Well, it's because you don't have Yaito--she's been written off to Kingland. Why is it just Netto who gets the Net Savior nod for saving the city? Why not Dekao, Meiru, and Tohru, who were right there saving the day with him? And who's going to stop those three from helping again? For starters, Dekao and big, threatening-looking Gutsman are written away to Jawaii. Already said that there should've been another way to patch the holes in EXE.

Roll and Iceman look cute and harmless, so they get to stay in town--just with significantly less competence than they had before. Their loss in Axess 4 is understandable, but then we're in the thirties and Roll is tripping over her own dress. ._. What happened to getting so far in the N1? And I don't remember super-childlike Iceman happening until later, either--he's got a job at the Waterworks, he doesn't (or shouldn't) run around with Aquaman all day. Bend the plot for the characters, not the characters for the plot!

Stream: Get rid of the movie. Spread the movie's plot points out over six to ten episodes with more involvement from the characters besides "let's pass Netto on to the next plot point/battle scene, then disappear." (For bonus points, writers, you've got all those CF Members you just had to have. Involve them in this, too.) Replace boring fillers with said content. Shazam!

And for even more bonus points, make these Asteroid substantiations more about actually testing the CF Members/the earth and less about NWWW! Make them make choices, push themselves, etc!

Beast: Before I get into some of this, I understand that plenty of it would've been fixed given a better animation budget and a full 52 episodes. That being said:

Make Roll, Searchman, or Tomahawkman the one to get infected with the Beast Factor. We knew the Beyondard Barrel and Colonel for a whopping one episode before Colonel got turned to the dark side. My first reaction to Beasty!Colonel was a very mild "oh, no." And after some thought, a "well, he has no emotions, right? his personality data's all in Iris, right? so if they've got Iris, why does anyone care?" If that were one of the main characters' Navis walking up to the lab all demented, my reaction would've been "kald;jskghs GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY!!" (see: the awesomeness of Dark Blues)

Trill's abilities other than Beasting Out: use them more. Also, the shadow chasing Iris doesn't have to be Colonel, but it does need some explanation.

Beyondard is a dangerous place to be a human in, and that should've been shown more. Netto and Company are standing in the middle of a frickin' battleground, shots flying everywhere, and they just stand there? And they somehow don't get hit? What the heck? Not to mention people might be willing to take advantage of/a little wary of travelers. Basically, they should've thought about their setting more.