Digimon Ghost Game 1×3 Review – “Scribbles”

Digimon Ghost Game anime season 1 episode 3, ‘Scribbles’, showed Ruri how dangerous Digimon could be. It’s a good thing she got to finally meet her DigiPartner.

The third episode of the Digimon Ghost Game anime focused on Ruri and her eventually teaming up with Hiro. With the current anime focusing on scary storytelling, the latest episode reminded me of certain “media” related horror tropes. ‘Scribbles’ involved mysterious red lines appearing on digital pictures of random people. After 48 hours, the cursed person would experience something horrible. For example, red scribbles appeared on the leg of a footballer’s picture. After 48 hours, the person got into an accident and injured his leg.

Though not entirely similar to “media” related horror movies like The Ring or Shutter, ‘Scribbles’ felt the same in essence due to the digital pictures showing something wrong followed by a countdown to the cursed person experiencing something bad.

Ruri’s cursed image showed mysterious red scribbles appearing on her hands. I liked how her two friends told her to immediately delete the picture in case the rumor about the cursed imagery was true. As I have mentioned before in my reviews of the Digimon Ghost Game anime, I’m a fan of Ruri having her own set of friends outside the core group she will form with Hiro and Kiyoshiro as the anime continues.

Ruri put up a brave face when her friends called to check up on her. I’m not sure, but I think Ruri’s the type of character who doesn’t want others worrying about her. I think she’s into handling things on her own. So, her character development arc could involve realizing that it’s okay to depend on friends during hard times. Also, where are Ruri’s parents?

The reason behind Ruri’s hands being cursed was revealed to be connected to her love for playing the piano. Turns out, the culprit targeted what people liked. The footballer’s leg got injured and a woman who liked cutting hair couldn’t stop her hair from growing. Ruri was a budding pianist so her fingers had to go.

I think the anime team did a good job of showing Ruri’s fear and confusion as she tried to handle the unfortunate situation on her own. She understandably felt helpless over what was happening to her. Seeing your fingers beginning to slowly fade away in front of your eyes would mess with anyone’s mind. Not only that, Ruri was growing paranoid due to feeling something had been continuously watching her. As viewers, we are aware of Angoramon keeping an eye on Ruri. But because she was unable to see Digimon yet, sensing Angoramon’s presence nearby made her feel uneasy.

It’s a good thing Hiro reached out to her after seeing Angoramon walking behind Ruri in the previous episode. Hiro messaging Ruri and inquiring about the strange occurrences around her felt like a more natural way for the two to meet instead of having them bump into each other on the road at random and becoming friends over a shared issue.

With Hiro and Gammamon being able to see and interact with Angoramon, we got an explanation about what’s happening to Ruri and the other cursed people. It’s revealed that Dracmon or Dracumon‘s behind the so-called pranks. Apparently, Dracumon wanted to materialize in the human world and thought cursing people would make him strong enough to do so.

Due to Hiro being shown to have a resourceful head, I liked how ‘Scribbles’ had him think of a plan to lure Dracumon out into the human world. A lot of times, the main lead of an anime series isn’t the smartest of the group. The role usually goes to a nerd-type character who supports the lead with intellectual insight from the sidelines. However, I appreciate Hiro being different. A lead character who is smart and can also hold his own during a fight is refreshing to see.

With Dracumon being lured into the human world by Hiro by using a Vital Bracelet, I liked how the episode focused a lot on Ruri’s relationship with Angoramon during an intense battle. Seeing Angoramon desperately try and stop a Dracumon-possessed Hiro from taking the Vital Bracelet away from Ruri made for an enjoyable scene. Angoramon’s determination got to Ruri. She couldn’t believe a Digimon like him would be so adamant about protecting her.

I liked how Angoramon’s connection with Ruri gave him a speed and power boost. He was incapable of capturing Dracumon before. However, with Ruri by his side, Angoramon gave Dracumon a good beating. We got to see Angoramon use two attacks – Double Lariat and Pyon Dump. Angoramon’s clearly the muscle of the group even though he’s incredibly fluffy.

A gripe regarding ‘Scribbles’ would be how Hiro and the rest handled Dracumon at the end of the episode. The moment Dracumon began apologizing and stating how he would never harm humans again, I knew he was lying. I get that Hiro’s got a kind heart, but I think he forgave Dracumon too easily. I wanted Hiro to do more. I wanted him to find a way to send Dracumon to the Digital World and take away Dracumon’s ability to come back.

Having said that, I get how Hiro’s still learning about the Digital World. So, I guess, as of now, Hiro’s unable to properly make Dracumon face consequences for his actions even if he wanted to? Anyway, this clearly isn’t the last time we have seen Dracumon. That little Digimon’s still interested in playing more pranks and finding a way to materialize in the human world. He’s even okay partnering up with a bad human being to do so.

With Ruri and Hiro becoming a team, Kiyoshiro’s the only one left. Considering the preview for the next episode, I think Kiyoshiro will likely be part of the team by episode 5 or 6. Being a coward, it will be interesting to see him interact with someone like Hiro and Ruri in a team setting.

Also, I hope Digimon Ghost Game gives us an explanation soon about why Hiro, Ruri, and Kiyoshiro were chosen as the three leads. Hiro’s father asked his son to look after Gammamon for some reason. Angoramon liked listening to Ruri play the piano and decided to stick around. There has to be something deeper than that, right? Is the trio part of some mysterious prophecy? Why did they get their current DigiPartners instead of some other type of Digimon? I would like to know.

What did you think of ‘Scribbles’?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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