Are you guys ready to see an episode of Monster Rancher that probably would've traumatized me if I'd seen it as a kid? This one is super important, not only for what it reveals and sets up, but also showing that this series isn't afraid to get heavy. Really heavy.
The Searchers are walking through a desert. "Ah, it's a wonderful day to be alive," Hare says. 'Especially if you happen to be a genius! Tough job, but somebody's gotta do it!"
"Hare, if you're a genius, we're in a lot of trouble," Tiger remarks, with Golem agreeing.
Suezo asks the group when they're going to find another Mystery Disk, and Genki says that doing so isn't a piece of cake. (This makes Mocchi hungry, with Genki telling him it's just an expression.)
Little do they know that a Weed is watching them!
"How do they know where to find Mystery Disks," the Weed wonders, as Genki asks Holly to check the Magic Stone just to be sure they're headed in the right direction.
The Stone glows bright yellow this time, indicating that the Disk is very close! Genki celebrates, but the Weed is watching them intently.
The Searchers start digging, with Tiger and Hare getting into a sand fight. "Are you a Monster or a gopher!? What what you're doing," Hare yells, splatting Tiger with sand from his shovel.
"You look more like Tiger of the Dirt to me!"
Golem separates the two as they start really fighting, and Mocchi uncovers the Mystery Disk! Sometimes, you can tell what a Disk will make based on its color. This doesn't look like a red-orange firebird to me!
"Looks like an excellent opportunity to get in solid with Moo," the Weed says to himself.
"It's a strange-looking Mystery Disk," Holly says. "Maybe it holds the Phoenix," Genki wonders.
"This is unbelievable!" The Weed runs to a cliff--and rides the wind currents to safety. "Master Moo, here I come!"
By sunset, Suezo finally finds a Shrine to unlock the Disk at!
Eveeryone cheers and scouts ahead, and Golem forgets to pick Suezo up again.
By nightfall, they've reached the Shrine and set the Disk in. Note that this is the first time the Searchers have found and unlocked a Disk as a full team! The last unlocking was either in episode 4 or 8, depending on if you count flashbacks.
The Disk is successfully unlocked, and creates a Monol. In the game, Monols can create facial features as well as spikes, but this one stays a slab. (Their name is short for monolith.)
The Monol floats toward the group and speaks telepathically. "I am Monol. My story... is my purpose."
"It's about... a mistake. The mistake... of the ancient beings."
"We don't have time for storytelling," Suezo tells him. "We got stuff we gotta get done!"
Monol demands they listen, but the group is resistant. "And who's gonna make us," snarls Tiger. "We must free the Phoenix," Golem adds.
"That's... my story," Monol says, which prompts Holly to convince them to listen. "Your story is about the Phoenix? Please tell us what you know!"
"It's a long one. Gather around."
Tiger is again resistant, but Genki cheers them up. "Maybe it'll help us beat the baddies!"
Everyone gathers... and Monol's fallen asleep. They facefault, and Suezo's yelling wakes him up.
"Wha? Uh, sorry, I do that sometimes. ...Close your eyes. I'll make a direct image access to your brain."
Genki asks what that is, and Hare responds that Monol will send the stories' images to their brains. Suezo's nervous, but Holly says this could really help them.
"Concentrate...Open your hearts... Wider..."
In the sky above them, a portal appears, followed by images.
Images of a galaxy and planet very similar to Earth.
"Once, long ago, there was a planet... and on that planet, only one continent. A land called... Pangea. The people of Pangea had created an advanced civilization."
"No, in fact, an extremely advanced civilization."
"These ancients developed a technology that allowed them to create Monsters in a laboratory and then store the genetic information, sealing it in CD-Roms." (These are Eared Mews, a Mew/Hare breed.)
"When the world was one continent," Genki murmurs. "I almost feel like I'm right there, back in that ancient civilization..."
Monol continues. "Over time, this technology became commonplace, and was taken for granted."
"And the Monsters, the miraculous result of this wondrous technology, became household pets--created and used for people's amusement."
"But not only Monsters were created. The technology was used to create whatever people believed would make them happy... whatever they believed would please them."
"At the peak of this civilization, its people believed they were gods."
And here we come to the major difference in the backstory. In the games, Monsters were created by God to help the people after a series of disasters. In the anime, they were created by people who believed themselves gods. And you know what they say about pride before a fall...
"But despite their technology, they were unable to foresee the great disasters that attacked the land."
We're shown several of these disasters--volcanoes, meteor showers, cyclones, tidal waves...
And the Searchers are completely shocked--poor Mocchi looks traumatized.
"All their advancements in civilized conveniences were soon forgotten. The thin veneer of civilization was stripped away... and the people became savage."
"Fights became battles, and battles became war."
"At first, it was called the Final War."
"But as it went on... thirty, fifty, one hundred years... the cause of the war faded from memory." We are shown Monsters being created--and fighting in the war.
"No one remembered why they were fighting--only the bitter feelings transferred from one generation to the next."
"One day, countless years after the war had begun, a new Monster was created."
"It was called... Moo."
"Tiger, Genki asks, "is Moo really that big?" "Moo is huge and he is terrifying. Someone to stay away from."
The war planes attacked Moo, to no effect. He fired back and obliterated all of them.
"Moo's strength could not be matched," Monol continues.
"Although he was a living being, he had been created for no purpose but to destroy the enemy. It was thought that whoever achieved control of Moo would win the war..."
"But Moo became his own master."
"He obeyed no commands but his own. He learned how to draw forth and amplify the darkness in the hearts of other Monsters."
"The scientists who had survived turned their efforts to the creation of a creature capable of stopping Moo. That creature... was the Phoenix."
Moo's forces blasted at the Phoenix to no effect, and it let loose a shockwave that made them drop their weapons and become peaceful.
"While Moo and the Phoenix did battle, the scientists completed the Final Gate--the way to separate Moo's mind from his body. It was a dangerous machine, one that would affect all Monsters--but the people believed they had no choice. It was the only way to stop Moo."
The Searchers are in awe at the Phoenix...
But Monol continues. "The ancient people of Pangea had a terrible decision to make. If they were to rid themselves of Moo, they knew the solution would harm all Monsters. But they had no choice... Otherwise, they would all be destroyed."
An arc of light shot from the Final Gate, enveloping Moo and the Phoenix and electrocuting them both.
"And so Moo's mind and body were separated. He was destroyed."
"So was the Phoenix." Both of their minds--their souls--left their bodies and scattered over the horizon.
"And all the other creatures..."
We see that every Monster--every last one--became sealed in Mystery Disks.
"The cost was incomprehensible."
Then lava began to flow. Tectonic plates began to shift, creating continents similar to what we know today--and the world was nearly destroyed anyway from all the disruption.
"And that... is my story."
"It happened long, long ago."
"I didn't know. No one ever told me," Holly manages. "That's a story," adds Suezo, clearly in shock.
Mocchi lets out a "Chi," while Genki thinks. "There are some things about that story that remind me of my world..."
Tiger has a question, though. "If the ancients destroyed Moo, why is it that we're still struggling against him today!?" Golem nods. "Tiger is right, Monol."
"Obviously... his work is not yet done. Perhaps Moo's mind has attached itself... to another body."
"Attached itself," Holly wonders. "That doesn't sound good..."
Tiger is not happy at the thought of Moo only being sort-of destroyed, and Genki refuses to let Moo destroy everything again. Holly says that's why they're looking for the Phoenix--and that gives Hare pause.
"Now here's a question for you. If Moo's mind has been floating around, what does that mean for the Phoenix?"
"Get outta here, Hare! You mean even if we find the Phoenix we won't be able to retrieve 'im because his mind won't be there too!? Come on! That's just too depressing!"
Genki asks Monol what he thinks. "Patience. You'll find out at the right time." Suezo takes offense, since he's supposed to tell them, but Monol says his story is his purpose.. and falls asleep.
Meanwhile, at Moo's floating castle...
"What? The Magic Stone!?" "That's right! I saw it all! The Stone glowed bright red, and then they found the Disk close by!"
"It's not possible for an ordinary person to use that Stone..."
"There was some girl usin' it! Oh, yes. A human girl, if I'm not mistaken. I think I heard them call her Holly..."
"Holly, is it," Moo says, and starts laughing. "We'll see about that!"
The Weed offers to take care of the girl, but Moo says he'll go himself...
That morning, Genki asks if Monol would like to join them on their quest. "I... cannot. My purpose is to tell my story..."
"But I have one more thing to tell you..." The others are resistant since his last story was long and heavy, but sit down. After falling asleep again, he finishes. "Take care of yourselves."
The Searchers nod, thank him for the story, and tell him goodbye.
"If ya see Moo," Suezo says, "tell him to watch out for us!" "Me especially," adds Hare.
"Well," Genki says, "I guess we know for sure what we gotta do now." "Find the Phoenix," Holly says.
But Moo is about to find them first.
"Master Moo, I know where the girl is!"
"Bring her here," he orders the Weed.
Then he laughs. "Just wait..."
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