7/11/2004 :: This week's episode of Axess #40 was entitled, "Heroes from the Bowels of the Earth!" Beware, spoilers below. Deep in the snowy country of Sharo, two construction workers are taking a stroll through a rare metal mine. The two come across a friendly dog, who apparantly is no stranger to them. Just then, a sparkle in the sky announces the arrival of many projectiles, which fire themselves directly into the ground, and form a Dimensional Area around the mine! The two workers are left on the outside, while the poor dog is trapped inside. The solitary figure of Coldman mocks the men, claiming the mine for his own. Meanwhile back in Japan, the local shopping market is full of cute girls offering free samples of food. ^_^ Netto just happens to be there, on a mighty quest to snag some dessert. However, having no willpower to say no to free food, the boy begins to gourge himself on all the offerings. Netto happily walks away with armful of free food, while am embrassed Rockman blushes. Just as he finally reaches the desserts, two men dressed in black suits grab him from behind, and drag him away! The three eventually arrive at the airport, still dragging a reluctant Netto with them, who is now in a fit of tears. The two men don't comprehend what the boy's babbling about, then finally reveal that they are with the Net Police. One of the men then picks up Netto, and sets him down directly in front of Manabe, Yuuichirou, and Meijin. ^_^; After a very quick "No need for formalities!", Meijin tells Netto that he must go to Sharo immediatly. Yuuichirou tells Netto the same, and that he must be quick about it. Netto tries to defer his way out of it, but is shipped out on a plane anyways. ^_^; Once they're up in the air, Manabe informs Netto that a rare metal mine in Sharo has been overtaken by the Darkloid, Coldman. Apparantly Nebula is after the materials inside the mine because they need it to manufacture more Dark Chips. The Sharo Net Police need Netto's aid, because of his ability to enter a Dimensional Area. Netto and Manabe finally land in Sharo, which is frozen over with snow. Netto leaves the airplane bundled up in a heavy jacket and gloves, and begins to complain about the cold. As he walks down the walkway outside, he's greeted by a very formal lineup of officers from the Sharo Net Police. (Note: All the officers are dressed the same as Laika. ^_^) A few of the officers officially greet him, embarrasing the boy as they give him their thanks. Afterwards, the head commander and Laika approach from the end of the line. Netto is very happy to see Laika again, and asks if he's doing well, only to be ignored and treated as coldly as always by the Sharo Net Savior. ^_^; At the main station, the Chief informs Netto about their current situation. Netto tells them to leave everything to him. Laika then pipes in, requesting that he join Netto on his mission. However, he's told that he will not partake in it whatsoever, and that he will not be forgiven if he interferes. Laika reluctantly accepts this. Outside, the snow is blowing hard as ever. Netto sits behind Laika on a snow bike as they race towards the mine. Once again Netto starts to complain about the cold, and asks Laika if Sharo is always like that. ^_^; And once more, Netto is ignored. They eventually arrive at the Dimensional Area, which is absolutely gigantic. As Netto watches it closely, he notices that the barrier wall collapses momentarily, then reforms again. Rockman explains that is the effect of "data koushin", or rather that the data forming the wall has to be renewed every so often because it is under so much strain due to its size. Laika also hears what Rockman has to say, then turns to his own navi Searchman, who is residing in his PET. After a solitary moment of talking with Searchman, Laika tells Netto to prepare to enter the Dimensional Area. The two mount on the bike once again, and speed off down the hill to gain acceleration as soon as they see that the barrier wall is starting to go down again. When they reach the appropriate speed, Netto leaps off the bike, and slots in the Synchro Chip. Just as Netto begins to glow, Searchman notifies his operator that it's time, and Laika also leaps off the bike! Laika clutches onto the glowing Netto midair, just as their bike explodes against the barrier wall. As the boys begin to pass through the wall, Netto begins the transformation into R Rockman. However since Laika is also with him, the process is slower, and both of them struggle to pass through. Eventually they do break past, and R Rockman holds onto Laika as he breaks their fall onto the ground. Back at the station, the commander and Manabe watch over the Net Saviors. Manabe is stunned that both of them managed to enter the Dimensional Area together. Meanwhile, the commander is a little perturbed that Laika disobeyed his orders. Inside the mine, Netto and Laika spy on a bunch of mettool viruses that are harvesting the rare metal. Just as Netto prepares to go hunt down Coldman, a fanfare virus pops up from behind, and announces to the whole mine of their location! Sure enough, Coldman appears before the two shortly after. Coldman quickly orders a bulldozer to attack the boys, which they dodge. Two other construction vehicles aim for Netto in an attempt to crush him, which he barely manages to dodge again. As he rolls to safety, Netto plug-in's Rockman into their computer. Inside the server, Rockman makes quick work of the viruses with his buster. Laika calls out to Netto from a mine cart, and the two flee from the scene. Spark Bees and Mettools continue to attack as they race in the cart down the rail track. They manage to swerve down another side track to avoid them, but this only leads them heading straight towards a dead end, where the track leads straight off a cliff! Laika quickly hits the breaks, but it's far too late, so he plug-in's Searchman to change the track's direction. Coldman watches with glee as the track changes too late, and the two boys crash through the barrier, beginning their fall towards the deep pit below. That is at least, until a giant bulldozer shovel plucks them out of the air, leading them to safety. As Netto rubs his head, Rockman appears on his PET, and asks if he's okay. Netto is relieved that his navi saved them just in time. Seeing that his plan was foiled, Coldman takes off from the scene. (Note: I never noticed before, but he displays the temperature on his lower body. ^_^; Right now it says -40 celsius.) Netto follows Laika down a mine shaft, who is carrying a flashlight. Netto, who is now devoid of his warmer clothing, complains once again about the cold. Laika comments that that this is normal for Sharo, which leads to Netto retorting that he is not from Sharo. Netto's loud outburst causes a few rocks to come tumbling down, and Laika orders Netto to remain quiet. Inside the net, Searchman is looking for Coldman's whereabouts. Likewise, Coldman is also looking for them in return. As they walk through the mine, Netto and Laika continue to argue. That is, until Netto's stomach rumbles, and he collapses from hunger. ^_^; Laika walks back to the younger boy, and actually smiles in amusement. (Laika smiling! :O) The two make a fire, and sit down in an attempt to warm up. Laika breaks a small piece of food in half, and offers one portion to Netto. As Netto takes a bite, he finds that it tastes horrible. ^_^; Netto becomes interested to know why Laika knows his way around the mine so well. The Net Savior of Sharo then reveals that his parents were miners. (This last bit is according to Josuke, translation credits go to him) Unfortunately their quiet moment is interrupted by the arrival of more viruses. Laika orders them to run away, then throws a smoke bomb to make sure that they are not followed. Laika grabs Netto's hand as he leads him away, then pulls them both down a sliding shaft! As they slowly come to a stop at the bottom, a faint barking can be heard. Laika instantly recognizes the dog's bark, calling him by name (which unfortunately I can't pick out, but it sounds something like "Moltagu"). The two arrive in the main control room of the mine, and Laika rushes over to the dog that had been trapped inside the Dimensional Area at the very beginning of the episode. Laika is very relieved that the dog is okay, and smiles once again. Laika reveals that this dog is not only an important part of this mine, but is also his friend. Unfortunately the moment is interrupted when Coldman finally tracks them down! Stating that they will turn into "ice candy", Coldman prepares to attack. However, this angers the dog immensly, and he attacks first! Unfortunately the mut is no match for the Darkloid, and is quickly cast roughly aside. Both Laika and Netto are enraged that Coldman would hurt the dog. Netto then wastes no time in performing Cross Fusion with Rockman. Stating that he'll never forgive him, R Rockman prepares to begin his battle with Coldman. Meanwhile, Laika quickly grabs the dog and flees to safety. Coldman starts things off with his "Ice Shoot!" attack, flinging a giant ice cube at R Rockman. However, he easily leaps off from it, and aims a flying kick at the Darkloid, which is blocked by a forearm. Coldman flings R Rockman away from him, sending him flying through the air. R Rockman quickly uses the Area Steal chip, which allows him to transport elsewhere. However Coldman keeps up with him, and traps R Rockman from both sides with more giant ice cubes. Having his opponent in a tight spot, Coldman releases his "White Breath!" attack, which begins to freeze R Rockman with snow. R Rockman quickly activates the Dream Aura chip, which melts away all of the snow. Getting back to his feet, R Rockman then activates the Air Hockey and Boomerang chips, one for each arm. Air Hockey is fired off first, which Coldman barely dodges, only to be pegged in the head by the Boomerang a quick moment after, and lastly tripped by the Air Hockey's return shot. Determined not to be defeated, Coldman attempts to crush R Rockman with his "Ice Burg Press!" attack. R Rockman retaliates with the Elec Shock chip, which singes the Darkloid. Realizing he is at a disadvantage, Coldman quickly flees back to the cyberworld. Netto becomes frustrated that Coldman ran away, so Rockman pipes up that he can take care of it. That is, until Laika offers to do it instead. (Another smile! Bwee!) Coldman arrives in the cyberworld, thinking that he's safe. Unfortunately for him, a certain navi has been waiting for him. Wasting not a moment, Searchman fires off his rifle, and stikes his opponent straight through the chest. Having no other choice, Coldman is forced to log out. With the situation finally resolved, the Dimensional Area fades away, and the mine is saved. Back at the main control center, a happy dog with his leg bandaged is sleeping on the floor. Netto is thanked by the commander and Manabe for his good work. Netto then mentions that Laika was also of a great help to him, and pleads that he not be punished for interfering with the mission. Surprisingly enough, the commander is not upset at all, and in fact praises the Net Savior of Sharo. Laika is indeed surprised, and relaxes a bit, even going so far as calling the man "ojiisan". (Note: Ojiisan usually means 'Grandfather'. However, I do not know if this officially means that these two are related. If anyone who is more fluent in Japanese can tell me otherwise, I would appreciate it. ^_^;) Netto and Rockman are both relieved the everything is going to be okay. Manabe pats Netto on the shoulder, and tells him it's time to go back home to Japan. Laika smiles at Netto, and silently thanks him. Back at the supermarket in Japan, Netto is once again on a mission to get some dessert. ^_^; But he's trying to use all is willpower this time, to ignore all the other free food being offered! Sadly though, all the cute girls offering him trays of treats is not making it very easy. ^_^;; -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wish I could understand enough Japanese to pick out a lot of the details in Netto and Laika's conversations, there was obviously a lot of character development going on. It was nice to see Laika being given some depth finally, after making him look like such a stiff in previous episodes. Overall this was a very, very enjoyable episode. Next week, Meiru & Enzan team up to take care of issues in Japan while Netto is still in Sharo, and an old familiar face returns! Don't miss it! Rockman.exe Online has been created to help other fans have a decent source of information and media on this great anime series. If you find any errors in this site, or would like add anything, please don't hesitate to e-mail me! Thank you all, and enjoy your stay.