Axess: SearchSoul!

Plot Synopsis
Strange ghosts viruses have been robbing data-banks across DenTech, and Raika and Lan have been assigned the case. Unfortunately Raika is too much of an intolerable ass for Lan to work with, and MegaMan is deathly afraid of ghosts. (MegaMan.EXE's fear of ghosts originates from the Mystery of the Ghost Ship episode, which was never dubbed in English, and this continued to be a running joke for the rest of the series.) Chief Kiefer tells them to get over it and work together, so the two of them decide to split up and figure out their own ways to track down where the data was taken.

SearchMan's excellent tracking skills locate the viruses in no time, but Lan is stuck following Rush around to every Pizzeria and Deli in the city. So much for relying on the nose of a cyber-dog. Everyone is called back to SciLab after Raika encountered the ghost viruses (which turned out to be invisible Mettaurs), and painted them with a tracking signal. Raika waits around to see where the viruses go, while Lan throws a temper tantrum in the street about how much he hates Raika.

Lucky for Lan, the viruses happen to stop by his location, and he arrives first to the scene to find DesertMan in the network ordering the viruses around. MegaMan is jacked in to stop him, but using the Dark Chips, DesertMan turns invisible, making it impossible for MegaMan to fight him. DesertMan uses his advantage to grab MegaMan and begin squeezing the life out of him.

Just then, Raika shows up with SearchMan, so DesertMan holds MegaMan over a pit of lava, knowing that if SearchMan takes a shot at DesertMan, he'll delete MegaMan in the process. Raika doesn't give a shit and tells SearchMan to take the shot, but SearchMan hesitates, remembering all the good times he had with MegaMan... like that time they stopped ShadowMan... and that time MegaMan called him heartless... and that time... actually it's all from the same episode, but whatever, point is that SearchMan is a bit more amiable to MegaMan than Raika is.

Raika yells at SearchMan, continually ordering him to take the shot, but SearchMan just can't bring himself to fire. DesertMan drops MegaMan into the pit, so reacting fast, SearchMan fires an ice beam at the lava, freezing it and allowing MegaMan to land safely. That leaves him open to an attack from DesertMan, and SearchMan takes a direct hit from DesertMan's Ant-lion attack. Raika is in complete disbelief that SearchMan disobeyed him, and MegaMan rushes to SearchMan's aid. This triggers a DoubleSoul, and MegaMan fuses with SearchMan to create SearchSoul.

DesertMan turns invisible again to out maneuver MegaMan, but with his new tracking ability, MegaMan easily pinpoints him and takes the shot, which impresses even Raika. DesertMan logs out and the data is recovered. Raika is pissed about SearchMan disobeying him, and decides to return home to Sharo. Heading on the plane home, Raika grudingly admits that it was thanks to MegaMan's skill that everything worked out. Lan thanks him, then Raika adds, "Just because I think your NetNavi has skills doesn't mean I think you have any."

"ARG! YOU BETTER GET ON THAT PLANE!"

Critique
Just to be clear, I don't hate Raika as a character. Actually, the only episode I hate with him in it, is the last episode because of how the dialog continually has Raika beating the audience over the head with the only feature of his character, his so called intelligence, on top of which Lan mostly just ends up taking the whole episode. This time Raika actually uses more than ten words from the dictionary, and Lan's building pure rage over Raika's arrogance is hilarious!

This episode is just pieced together so well, a rare home run for this show. At the start of the episode, you have Raika explaining how a NetOp is useless if his NetNavi is disobedient, and this foreshadows SearchMan's inevitable decision in the climax. Lan's increasing anger and frustration are done well, gradually building to a near psychotic outburst, and even when he thinks he's finally shown Raika his ability, Raika throws it back in his face for the perfect ending!

MegaMan is fantastic in this episode as well. The running gag of MegaMan being afraid of ghosts is probably the best thing about NT Warrior ever being made, and the action sequences have some really nice dynamic shots of the blue bomber. They aren't animated as particularly nice as say, Star Force, but the poses and shots are done pretty well. The climax with SearchMan's decision between taking out DesertMan and saving MegaMan is the best the show has ever done to raise some real tension and drama in the characters. You really don't know if SearchMan will take the shot or not (although it's a safe bet MegaMan would survive either way), and I really like this final scene.

This is definitely the best episode of Axess, and one of the best episodes of NT Warrior, and it features a mostly new cast, which is what I've chastised in this series the most so far. There's no Count Zap, no Higsby, no Masa, and this episode still manages to be fantastic, proving that their is a potential for strength in this show, even if it's rarely used. It has a perfect blend of humor, such as Lan following Rush all over town, and suspense and drama. Overall I think Axess is pretty bad, and it's going to get much worse from here, but this episode I'd put in my top 5 episodes of any of the Mega Man cartoons, it's really good.

Rating: Thumbs up!