Plug In! Rockman! (プラグイン！ロックマン！)
Review: Rockman EXE (Animation)
Review: Rockman EXE (Animation)
Reviewer: HF
Publish Date: 2020/05/29
Publish Date: 2020/05/29
Summary Inside the cyberworld, a battle between Gutsman and a small standard netnavi is taking place. They exchange hits while the smaller one jumps around him. Netto, the operator of the smaller netnavi, uses a Shotgun battle chip and the smaller navi's right arm transforms into a hand cannon, firing several shots at Gutsman who blocks the shots easily. Netto then uses a Sword battle chip, transforming his navi's right arm into a sword who then rushes his larger opponent, only to have his sword broken and gets punched away. The smaller navi's right arm is gone as he struggles to get up while Netto calls him to escape, but the other operator Dekao calls Gutsman to deal the finishing blow, causing the smaller navi to logout. The battle ends, revealing this all took place in a game center while a small crowd cheers. As the crowd disperses, Dekao tells Netto that he's 100 lightyears (exact phrase) too early to beat him.
Netto and Meiru are walking along the street, while Netto complains that his operation technique was flawless yet he lost. Meiru tells Netto that he did pretty well considering all he head was a standard netnavi. Meiru receives a notice on her PET, with her netnavi Roll telling her that it's time for her piano lessons. Meiru thanks Roll, while Netto says it must be great having a custom navi. Dekao rolls along on his roller scooter, asking Meiru to head home together. Meiru hurries off after saying bye to Netto, who continues feeling dejected while Dekao chases after Meiru.
Netto sits at a park, checking his standard navi for damages only to run into problems. He sighs and lies back staring into the sky until a fish suddenly lands on him. Netto grabs it, and notices the local fishmonger Masa was the one who threw it to him. He asks why Netto looks so depressed, asking whether he lost to a fight against Dekao. Netto hands the fish back to him, and correct Masa that it was a net battle. Masa asks if it was a "Nettou Battle" (熱湯バトル, lit. hot water battle) which involves competing to see who can last the longest in a hot bathtub, and is corrected by Netto who says it's a "Net Battle" and that Masa is so analogue and is probably the only person who doesn't have a PET these days. Masa then mentions he owned a pet dog when he was a child, only to be corrected again by Netto who explains that PET is short for "Personal Teminal". Netto shows it to Masa, who appears to finally get what Netto meant. Netto then continues explaining that a PET has an AI programmed known as a "NetNavi" (or navi for short) that assists its operator, and that navis can battle against each other in what is called a "Net Battle" which has become very popular these days. They are interrupted when several fire trucks pass by, with Masa wondering if it's another series of fires that has been happening lately, with Netto also wondering if it's the kind where ovens suddenly burst into flames. Masa suddenly mentions he has places to go, and hands Netto two large fish to take home as sources of calcium. Masa tells Netto that he'll see him later and rides off on his bicycle while Netto feels better and takes the fish back home.
Back home, Netto has the fish for dinner while his mother mentions that it's scary that these fires have been happening the 10th time this week. Netto says that the cause it due to the (oven) computer going out of control, and asks if theirs is alright. Netto's mother mentions that their oven was checked yesterday by someone from the company, and reassures Netto that there is nothing wrong. Netto asks his mother for seconds, and as she goes to refill his bowl she mentions that a letter addressed to Netto from his father just arrived from overseas. Netto checks the letter on the counter, and mentions his father has it easy since he's travelling the world while leaving his family at home. Netto's mother responds, saying that Yuuichiro (Netto's father) is a famous explorer, and used to be reknowned scientist for the Ministry of Science. Netto says the last part along his mother, saying he has heard it so many times already. Netto opens the package, and finds a small disc inside. Excited that it may be the custom navi his father promised him, he rushes to his room and inserts the disc into the PET's dock and starts installing its contents. His computer screen says "rockman plug in installing" as the program continues to install. After installing the program, the PET reboots and his standard navi shows up, telling Netto that the updates for the Memo Diary and Mail have been completed, and that the PET's OS has also been updated. The navi then tells Netto that optimization will begin, and will take 30 minutes to complete. Netto is disappointed that it wasn't the program for his custom navi, and calls his dad an idiot before dozing off in bed. Cutting back to Netto's mother in the dining room, who looks at a photo of their family and saying Netto was probably looking forward to this for a while. She teases that Netto's the only one who gets gifts, and wishes Yuuichiro to return home soon. As Netto lies down asleep on the bed, his PET starts beeping as it receives an executable program, and proceeds to customize the ROM disk. As it proceeds, the navi starts changing its appearance. Netto continues to sleep while the PET continues to run its optimization program.
In the early morning, Netto is still asleep while a voice calls him to wake up. The voice then calls his full name as Netto falls out of bed, wondering who's being so loud. The voice calls Netto to check his PET, who greets him good morning. The navi introduces himself as Rockman, and that he's the original navi programmed by Netto's father. Netto stares for a while, and Rockman asks him what's wrong. Netto mentions that his father kept his promise that once he reaches the fifth grade he will make him an original navi, but mentions that he's a little disappointed as he was expecting something bigger and tougher-looking. Rockman doesn't know how to respond, but notices odd amounts of heat coming from downstairs and warns Netto that something looks wrong. A loud scream comes from downstairs as he rushes to check on his mother, who mentions their oven suddenly burst into flames. Netto grabs a nearby extinguisher and attempts to put out the flames, only to get stronger. Netto concludes that the onboard computer must be malfunctioning, and Rockman asks Netto to plug him into the oven computer so he can check around. Netto puts out the fire a little more, and plugs his PET into the oven terminal, sending Rockman into the computer. Rockman arrives inside the oven computer's cyberworld, and notices a large number of viruses inside as he starts firing shots deleting them. A group of Mettols rush towards Rockman as he jumps away, but Rockman quickly deletes them with his Rockbuster. With all the viruses gone, Rockman turns around and notices a shadow amidst the remaining flames which disappears along with the last of the flames. The oven fire dies down as Netto's mother watches from behind the counter, and Netto plugs out Rockman back into the PET and says that he's small but powerful, and that they now have a chance against Dekao and Gutsman. Netto says he's starting to like Rockman, and hopes they would work well together from now on.
Netto and Dekao meet each other on their way to school. Dekao says he was expecting Netto to be in bed all day after their defeat the previous day, and Netto asks to meet in the AV room for a rematch after school. Dekao laughs at Netto saying he must be joking, and Netto responds saying that it would be Dekao's turn to stay home in bed. Rockman tells Netto off, saying that net battles are forbidden in school, but Netto says to not be so strict. During class, Dekao sends Gutsman into the school network to ask Roll for a date request with Meiru. Roll rejects it, saying Meiru has piano lessons today. Gutsman then asks Roll for a date and attempts to hug her, only to be beaten by her attack Roll Flash. Dekao reacts to being rejected and stands up during class, and is teased by the teacher to save asking people on dates for after class. During this, Rockman tells Netto that he thinks he saw a netnavi inside the oven computer's network, and Netto asks whether it means someone was behind the recent oven fires.
Meanwhile, Hino Kenichi (Hino-ken) reports to Wily that the viruses were wiped out due to that person. Wily asks if it was the doing of Net Agents who have continued to interfere with their plans, but Hino-ken responds saying that he's never seen him before. Wily mentions to delete that navi the next time they cross paths.
After school, Netto and Dekao have their rematch in the school's AV room. They both plug in their PETs, sending Rockman and Gutsman into the school's cyberworld. Gutsman walks up to Rockman, with Dekao mocking Netto's new navi. Netto tells Dekao to shut up and just start the battle. Dekao tells Gutsman to not hold back, and they both rush towards each other. Meanwhile, Meiru practices on her piano while her home oven starts to malfunction. Back to Netto and Dekao's net battle, Dekao slots in a Mega-Guts Punch battle chip, causing Gutsman's right arm to grow in size. However, Rockman stops it easily, and fights back with a barrage of punches and finishes with a side kick, knocking down Gutsman. Netto prepares another battle chip, but their fight is interrupted by a cry for help. Roll appears and tells them that Meiru's trapped in her home with smoke building up inside. They stop their fight, with Rockman and Gutsman following Roll to their home network while Netto and Dekao hurry to Meiru's home. Rockman and Roll arrive inside the the oven computer as he fights off the viruses. Hino-ken notices Rockman again, and orders his navi Fireman to delete him. As Rockman deletes the last of the viruses, he and Roll notice that there aren't many viruses this time. They dodge a fireball, and Rockman asks who's the navi behind the flames. The navi introduces himself as Fireman, and asks how long they can keep dodging as he fires at them. Netto arrives at Meiru's home and breaks in to get her to safety. Dekao arrives as Netto and Meiru leave the house, but Netto's PET says Rockman is taking damage. Netto tells Dekao to take care of Meiru, and rushes inside. Both Rockman and Gutsman are being beaten easily by Fireman as he slowly walks towards them. Gutsman rushes Fireman, only to be defeated by a blast of fire and is forced to logout. Netto arrives back in front of the burning oven, plugs in and slots in a Shotgun battle chip for Rockman who fires at Fireman, stopping his barrage of fire attacks. Netto then slots in a Sword battle chip, which Rockman uses to easily slice off one of Fireman's arms much to both him and Hino-ken's surprise who then plugs out Fireman and escapes. Roll rushes happily to Rockman, hugging him.
Meiru is driven off in an ambulance, though Netto says that it's a good thing she is alright. Netto says Rockman truly is an amazing navi, and Rockman tells Netto that they won thanks to him being his operator. Netto asks if Rockman will always help him, only to ask if he can help with today's homework, which Rockman says Netto should do it himself. They both argue while Dekao continues crying due to Gutsman being logged out (damaged but not deleted).
Netto and Meiru are walking along the street, while Netto complains that his operation technique was flawless yet he lost. Meiru tells Netto that he did pretty well considering all he head was a standard netnavi. Meiru receives a notice on her PET, with her netnavi Roll telling her that it's time for her piano lessons. Meiru thanks Roll, while Netto says it must be great having a custom navi. Dekao rolls along on his roller scooter, asking Meiru to head home together. Meiru hurries off after saying bye to Netto, who continues feeling dejected while Dekao chases after Meiru.
Netto sits at a park, checking his standard navi for damages only to run into problems. He sighs and lies back staring into the sky until a fish suddenly lands on him. Netto grabs it, and notices the local fishmonger Masa was the one who threw it to him. He asks why Netto looks so depressed, asking whether he lost to a fight against Dekao. Netto hands the fish back to him, and correct Masa that it was a net battle. Masa asks if it was a "Nettou Battle" (熱湯バトル, lit. hot water battle) which involves competing to see who can last the longest in a hot bathtub, and is corrected by Netto who says it's a "Net Battle" and that Masa is so analogue and is probably the only person who doesn't have a PET these days. Masa then mentions he owned a pet dog when he was a child, only to be corrected again by Netto who explains that PET is short for "Personal Teminal". Netto shows it to Masa, who appears to finally get what Netto meant. Netto then continues explaining that a PET has an AI programmed known as a "NetNavi" (or navi for short) that assists its operator, and that navis can battle against each other in what is called a "Net Battle" which has become very popular these days. They are interrupted when several fire trucks pass by, with Masa wondering if it's another series of fires that has been happening lately, with Netto also wondering if it's the kind where ovens suddenly burst into flames. Masa suddenly mentions he has places to go, and hands Netto two large fish to take home as sources of calcium. Masa tells Netto that he'll see him later and rides off on his bicycle while Netto feels better and takes the fish back home.
Back home, Netto has the fish for dinner while his mother mentions that it's scary that these fires have been happening the 10th time this week. Netto says that the cause it due to the (oven) computer going out of control, and asks if theirs is alright. Netto's mother mentions that their oven was checked yesterday by someone from the company, and reassures Netto that there is nothing wrong. Netto asks his mother for seconds, and as she goes to refill his bowl she mentions that a letter addressed to Netto from his father just arrived from overseas. Netto checks the letter on the counter, and mentions his father has it easy since he's travelling the world while leaving his family at home. Netto's mother responds, saying that Yuuichiro (Netto's father) is a famous explorer, and used to be reknowned scientist for the Ministry of Science. Netto says the last part along his mother, saying he has heard it so many times already. Netto opens the package, and finds a small disc inside. Excited that it may be the custom navi his father promised him, he rushes to his room and inserts the disc into the PET's dock and starts installing its contents. His computer screen says "rockman plug in installing" as the program continues to install. After installing the program, the PET reboots and his standard navi shows up, telling Netto that the updates for the Memo Diary and Mail have been completed, and that the PET's OS has also been updated. The navi then tells Netto that optimization will begin, and will take 30 minutes to complete. Netto is disappointed that it wasn't the program for his custom navi, and calls his dad an idiot before dozing off in bed. Cutting back to Netto's mother in the dining room, who looks at a photo of their family and saying Netto was probably looking forward to this for a while. She teases that Netto's the only one who gets gifts, and wishes Yuuichiro to return home soon. As Netto lies down asleep on the bed, his PET starts beeping as it receives an executable program, and proceeds to customize the ROM disk. As it proceeds, the navi starts changing its appearance. Netto continues to sleep while the PET continues to run its optimization program.
In the early morning, Netto is still asleep while a voice calls him to wake up. The voice then calls his full name as Netto falls out of bed, wondering who's being so loud. The voice calls Netto to check his PET, who greets him good morning. The navi introduces himself as Rockman, and that he's the original navi programmed by Netto's father. Netto stares for a while, and Rockman asks him what's wrong. Netto mentions that his father kept his promise that once he reaches the fifth grade he will make him an original navi, but mentions that he's a little disappointed as he was expecting something bigger and tougher-looking. Rockman doesn't know how to respond, but notices odd amounts of heat coming from downstairs and warns Netto that something looks wrong. A loud scream comes from downstairs as he rushes to check on his mother, who mentions their oven suddenly burst into flames. Netto grabs a nearby extinguisher and attempts to put out the flames, only to get stronger. Netto concludes that the onboard computer must be malfunctioning, and Rockman asks Netto to plug him into the oven computer so he can check around. Netto puts out the fire a little more, and plugs his PET into the oven terminal, sending Rockman into the computer. Rockman arrives inside the oven computer's cyberworld, and notices a large number of viruses inside as he starts firing shots deleting them. A group of Mettols rush towards Rockman as he jumps away, but Rockman quickly deletes them with his Rockbuster. With all the viruses gone, Rockman turns around and notices a shadow amidst the remaining flames which disappears along with the last of the flames. The oven fire dies down as Netto's mother watches from behind the counter, and Netto plugs out Rockman back into the PET and says that he's small but powerful, and that they now have a chance against Dekao and Gutsman. Netto says he's starting to like Rockman, and hopes they would work well together from now on.
Netto and Dekao meet each other on their way to school. Dekao says he was expecting Netto to be in bed all day after their defeat the previous day, and Netto asks to meet in the AV room for a rematch after school. Dekao laughs at Netto saying he must be joking, and Netto responds saying that it would be Dekao's turn to stay home in bed. Rockman tells Netto off, saying that net battles are forbidden in school, but Netto says to not be so strict. During class, Dekao sends Gutsman into the school network to ask Roll for a date request with Meiru. Roll rejects it, saying Meiru has piano lessons today. Gutsman then asks Roll for a date and attempts to hug her, only to be beaten by her attack Roll Flash. Dekao reacts to being rejected and stands up during class, and is teased by the teacher to save asking people on dates for after class. During this, Rockman tells Netto that he thinks he saw a netnavi inside the oven computer's network, and Netto asks whether it means someone was behind the recent oven fires.
Meanwhile, Hino Kenichi (Hino-ken) reports to Wily that the viruses were wiped out due to that person. Wily asks if it was the doing of Net Agents who have continued to interfere with their plans, but Hino-ken responds saying that he's never seen him before. Wily mentions to delete that navi the next time they cross paths.
After school, Netto and Dekao have their rematch in the school's AV room. They both plug in their PETs, sending Rockman and Gutsman into the school's cyberworld. Gutsman walks up to Rockman, with Dekao mocking Netto's new navi. Netto tells Dekao to shut up and just start the battle. Dekao tells Gutsman to not hold back, and they both rush towards each other. Meanwhile, Meiru practices on her piano while her home oven starts to malfunction. Back to Netto and Dekao's net battle, Dekao slots in a Mega-Guts Punch battle chip, causing Gutsman's right arm to grow in size. However, Rockman stops it easily, and fights back with a barrage of punches and finishes with a side kick, knocking down Gutsman. Netto prepares another battle chip, but their fight is interrupted by a cry for help. Roll appears and tells them that Meiru's trapped in her home with smoke building up inside. They stop their fight, with Rockman and Gutsman following Roll to their home network while Netto and Dekao hurry to Meiru's home. Rockman and Roll arrive inside the the oven computer as he fights off the viruses. Hino-ken notices Rockman again, and orders his navi Fireman to delete him. As Rockman deletes the last of the viruses, he and Roll notice that there aren't many viruses this time. They dodge a fireball, and Rockman asks who's the navi behind the flames. The navi introduces himself as Fireman, and asks how long they can keep dodging as he fires at them. Netto arrives at Meiru's home and breaks in to get her to safety. Dekao arrives as Netto and Meiru leave the house, but Netto's PET says Rockman is taking damage. Netto tells Dekao to take care of Meiru, and rushes inside. Both Rockman and Gutsman are being beaten easily by Fireman as he slowly walks towards them. Gutsman rushes Fireman, only to be defeated by a blast of fire and is forced to logout. Netto arrives back in front of the burning oven, plugs in and slots in a Shotgun battle chip for Rockman who fires at Fireman, stopping his barrage of fire attacks. Netto then slots in a Sword battle chip, which Rockman uses to easily slice off one of Fireman's arms much to both him and Hino-ken's surprise who then plugs out Fireman and escapes. Roll rushes happily to Rockman, hugging him.
Meiru is driven off in an ambulance, though Netto says that it's a good thing she is alright. Netto says Rockman truly is an amazing navi, and Rockman tells Netto that they won thanks to him being his operator. Netto asks if Rockman will always help him, only to ask if he can help with today's homework, which Rockman says Netto should do it himself. They both argue while Dekao continues crying due to Gutsman being logged out (damaged but not deleted).
Gallery
©CAPCOM
©CAPCOM
Commentary So this is the first episode of the first animated Rockman EXE (Megaman Battle Network, or NT Warrior) series, and I admit that it still stands up well and is enjoyable for being a tie-in with the games. It didn't go too heavy with exposition and not everyone was named on-screen save for the ending credits, and despite this I felt it was very well-paced as an introduction into the series even for those who have never played the games.
Though the animation's mostly average as a 50+ episode TV series, a few things stand out compared to prior adaptations at the time, with the most obvious one being how faithful the overall appearance of the characters and world has been adapted from the games, which was a big plus as this series tied in with the games more and more as it progresses. A second point worth mentioning is that quite a few episodes of screenplay for this series (and others later) was done by Araki Kenichi, who also worked on the screenplay for Zoids and Tokusatsu shows such as Kamen Rider Black, Super Sentai, the Ultra series, and the Metal Hero series.
As a first episode and presumably the first one made in production order, the animation has some visible lack of polish in some parts; what stood out for me was the use of reduced saturation and brightness in the cyberworld scenes. While this may have just been done because there was only one general design for the network/cyberworld in this episode so it could just been lighting, I hope there would be more variety in later episodes.
As mentioned in the trivia section below, Hino-Ken is voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi, who at the time had done mostly cool and calm characters, which he seems to fit perfectly for an antagonist who appears mostly calm. At least in this episode.
A couple of interesting notes which could easily be missed. The conversation between Wily and Hino-ken mentioned "Net Agents" which interfered with their schemes, which sound like the anime's equivalent of the Official NetBattlers Association from the games. Also, at the beginning we see Masa in a slight hurry to leave after seeing there is another fire happening. Was he just in a hurry anyway to continue delivering fish elsewhere, or perhaps there is more to this fishmonger who seems totally clueless when it comes to anything digital? Given that we already know Masa is the operator of Sharkman in the games, it may not need much to put two and two together...
Though the animation's mostly average as a 50+ episode TV series, a few things stand out compared to prior adaptations at the time, with the most obvious one being how faithful the overall appearance of the characters and world has been adapted from the games, which was a big plus as this series tied in with the games more and more as it progresses. A second point worth mentioning is that quite a few episodes of screenplay for this series (and others later) was done by Araki Kenichi, who also worked on the screenplay for Zoids and Tokusatsu shows such as Kamen Rider Black, Super Sentai, the Ultra series, and the Metal Hero series.
As a first episode and presumably the first one made in production order, the animation has some visible lack of polish in some parts; what stood out for me was the use of reduced saturation and brightness in the cyberworld scenes. While this may have just been done because there was only one general design for the network/cyberworld in this episode so it could just been lighting, I hope there would be more variety in later episodes.
As mentioned in the trivia section below, Hino-Ken is voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi, who at the time had done mostly cool and calm characters, which he seems to fit perfectly for an antagonist who appears mostly calm. At least in this episode.
A couple of interesting notes which could easily be missed. The conversation between Wily and Hino-ken mentioned "Net Agents" which interfered with their schemes, which sound like the anime's equivalent of the Official NetBattlers Association from the games. Also, at the beginning we see Masa in a slight hurry to leave after seeing there is another fire happening. Was he just in a hurry anyway to continue delivering fish elsewhere, or perhaps there is more to this fishmonger who seems totally clueless when it comes to anything digital? Given that we already know Masa is the operator of Sharkman in the games, it may not need much to put two and two together...
Trivia
- This episode is based loosely on the Fireman scenario from the first game.
- Kenichi Hino (Mr. Match), or Hino-ken, is voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi in this series, who made his voice acting debut as the ninja robot Volfogg in GaoGaiGar. One of his most famous roles is as Kamina in Gurren Lagann.
- This series is developed by animation studio Xebec, which also worked on other animated TV series including Mini 4WD Let's & Go!! and Martian Successor Nadesico.
- Unlike the games, Netto's father is introduced as a reknowned scientist-turned-explorer who is often absent from home.
- Though only really shown in this first episode, part of the PET dock Netto uses to insert a disc into has some small similarities to the Nintendo Gamecube. Possibly the case due to the series' game debut as a release title or the Game Boy Advance which also has connectivity to the Gamecube. Both the GBA and Gamecube were released in 2001, and just a little less than a year before this episode aired.