#(AND THEN GUESS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED IN KOKUHAKU I STILL YELL)

[50cyg]

We see so many indications of how much Yamato cares for Taichi and constantly goes out of his way to look out for him. Do you see anything that shows this love and affection is reciprocated, that Taichi is looking out for Yamato too?

Sorry for responding much later than I originally said I would:(

Umm… I feel like there are multiple questions being asked here

If you are asking if we see Taichi looking out for Yamato, myanswer is “Not really”. 

But in Taichi’s defense, he is dealing with a pretty huge mentalcrisis and needs far more support than he can reciprocate. He shows anunderstanding for Jyou’s dilemma, but I think that is in part because hisdilemma is similar. Also, it’s worth noting that he is defending Jyou’sbehavior to Yamato specifically, who is also the same person he has had todefend his own behavior to. 

We don’t see Taichi actively looking out for anyone untilSoshitsu (Loss), wherin we see him looking out for Koushiro

As well as Sora

As well as his little sister.

But this is in the same movie where we see him actively chasingafter Meicoomon, and once again making decisions for the group. So, it’s safeto say his mental state is in a much better place, enough to allow for him tolook out for other people.

In regards to Yamato, there isn’t any specific moment where he hasa need to look out for him in this movie, except for the scene where they areboth drowning. They do nod at each other in that scene, which could be themboth making sure the other is okay, while also saying that theythemselves are okay. This interpretation certainly makes more sense to me than“okay, we’re going to swim upwards, got it”… like “well duh we’re going to swimupwards”, I can’t see them needing to mutually agree on that :P

If you are asking if Taichi caresabout Yamato, shows signs of worrying about him, is aware of him, understandshim and returns his affection, then my answer is “Yes”.

In Saikai, Taichi immediatelycatches on to the fact that musical differences does not mean musicaldifferences (not that this is any kind of huge feat though, but still :P).

We later get a scene thatdirectly tells us that Taichi has an understanding of Yamato:

Not only does this show thatTaichi understands where Yamato is coming from, but also that he is notjudgmental of his outburst.

In addition, it may be worthnoting that his outburst makes Taichi question his current conflict, implyinghe relies on Yamato’s approval.

Okay, I’m stretching it withthis next one, but I do feel that there is a potential Taiyama reading to thefollowing scene. It’s one of the scenes where Taichi is asking Daigo questionsat the Onsen.

After this very briefexchange we see Taichi looking away:

And continues to look awaywhile Takeru and Daigo have their exchange:

My question is “why?”.

We can assume he’s stoppedlistening to Daigo and to the conversation at that point because when peopleare paying attention to a conversation, even while looking away, they usuallyhave their eyes glancing in the direction of the conversation. Here however, Taichi’sattention appears to be somewhere else. He could be contemplating what Daigojust told him - this is the obvious answer as we see him look down, perhaps incontemplation, a moment later:

But again, why is he lookingoff to the right, and what exactly is he thinking about? It’s not like Daigogave him much to work with, but the animators still drew attention to thisscene.

So, I theorize it’s becausehe’s actually thinking about Yamato. It seems like they haven’t spoken much since theend of Saikai, and there’s even some indication that they are intentionallyavoiding each other.

If you watch the shot justbefore the conversation between Taichi and Daigo starts, you will seethat Yamato is walking off to the right, in the direction that we see Taichilooking later on:

So, if my reading of thismoment is correct, then this indicates that not only does Taichi have an awareness of Yamato’swhereabouts to an extent, but also that he contemplates everything that is going onbetween them.

Like I pointed out in my Yamato’s awarenessof Taichi Part 2 post, at the end of Ketsui, Taichi notices Yamato looking athim and smiles. 

This could be taken as him acknowledging Yamato’s concernand telling him he’s alright or as him wanting to reconcile with Yamato, orboth. Either way, it shows he cares about Yamato and their relationship, and isalso aware when Yamato is watching him.

Moving on to Kokuhaku, wehave his facial expressions as Yamato leaves from their ‘date’:

These facial expressions, tome, are semi similar to Yamato’s facial expressions after the airport battle.Taichi looks concerned (especially in that second shot), but also perhaps a bitconfused by Yamato’s behavior.

No matter how you want tointerpret these facial expressions, Taichi is watching Yamato intently as heleaves, so I guess we could say that this is an instant of Taichi looking outfor Yamato.

However, there is another scenein Kokuhaku that, in my opinion, makes it pretty clear that Taichi cares a lotabout Yamato and worries about him.

Let’s break down thefollowing scene, wherin Meiko arrives on the battlefield and subsequently has tobe saved by Yamato (side note, I need to learn how to make GIFs or video asap).

Additional side note: In mybreakdown of this scene I’m both fighting in favour of a Taiyama reading, aswell as fighting against a Meichi reading (sorry Meichi shippers).

Begin watching this video at2:22 minutes and watch until 2:30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u2aaH7TYDE

The group hears Meiko callout for Meicoomon and turn to look, upon doing so, they quickly realize thatshe is heading into danger.

The first person to commentis Jyou who says “Don’t be reckless” and does make a slight move forward. Thesecond Jyou says that, we see Sora turn her head towards Taichi, while everyoneelse is still looking towards Meiko, as if she is anticipating his next move.This makes sense because Sora knows Taichi well enough to know that he, 98% ofthe time, has no issues putting himself in danger to protect others.

Taichi proceeds to call Meikoan idiot and move forward as if to try and stop her or protect her. This is nodifferent from his actions in Saikai, when he realized she was in danger ofbeing attacked by Alphamon and made a move to protect her. Except that inSaikai he was stopped by his PTSD, while in this movie he is held back by Sora.

Then we hear Mimi call outMeiko’s name (her dialogue is not in the subs, but if you listen you canclearly hear Mimi say “Meimei” slightly after Sora says “don’t”).

So, in this sequence we have3 of the Digidestined showing concern for Meiko, and both Jyou and Taichi moveforward, so both can be read as considering running to protect her or intercepther.

Watch video from 0:00-0:15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cL6Em_57-A

When Ikakumon gets throwninto the glass, we see that Meiko is dangerously close to the explosion itcauses. The chosen can obviously see this as well and all look equallyconcerned, though Taichi is the only one to call out to her, yelling “watchout” (I concede that this could be a point in Meichi’s favor).

However, we then see Yamatojump in to push her out of the way just before a ton of metal poles are aboutto impale her. And then we hear Taichi scream Yamato’s name.

This was always aninteresting moment to me because he screams Yamato’s name after we, theaudience, see that him and Meiko are safely out of harm’s way. This leads me tobelieve one of two things. Either it’s screamed in post shock of seeing Yamatorisk his life, or,

If you look at this shot youwill notice there is a cloud of dust from the debree in front of them. I haveno idea what the other kids line of sight is on Yamato and Meiko, but I thinkit is entirely plausible that Taichi and the others cannot see if the two areokay until after the dust cloud clears. So, when Taichi screams for Yamato,it’s because he cannot see whether or not Yamato is okay and is scared that hemay be injured.

Either way though, I think itspeaks volumes that Taichi is the only one to call out Yamato’s name, which, Imight add, is not a common thing to happen. Usually more than one of the chosenacknowledges when someone else is potentially in danger or something happens tothem. This leads me to believe that the creators really wanted to highlightTaichi’s concern for Yamato (and only Yamato, he doesn’t call out Meiko’s nameat all).

Actually, in this wholescene, Mimi is the only one to call for Meiko, the others acknowledge she is indanger but don’t call out her name the way Mimi does (points to Meimi).

I also want to add, and noone has to agree with me on this, but I personally feel that the delivery ofthe line “Yamato” (delivered to show Taichi’s concern for Yamato) has way morefear and concern packed behind it than the line “Watch out” (delivered to showTaichi’s concern for Meiko).

In Shoshitsu, we have himquoting Yamato word for word when he makes the decision to find Meicoomon andreunite her with Meiko. This indicates that he genuinely takes the thingsYamato says to heart.

Lastly, we have the fact thatTaichi is always teasing Yamato:

His teasing of Yamatoindicates that he likes getting reactions out of him, and possibly gouge hisfacial expressions. This is also a pretty staple anime romance trope, havingthe one love interest tease the other because they enjoy seeing their reactions.It’s a pretty classic thing to see in real life romantic relationshipsas well.

So, I don’t think that Taichiwatches out for Yamato the way Yamato watches out for him, but like I alludedto before, Taichi is the one who needs looking out for right now. It’s his turnto have Yamato watch out for him, cause Taichi was watching out for Yamato alot in Adventure while Yamato was going through his whole crisis (I should makea post about that someday).

But, there is absolutely nodoubt in my mind that Taichi understands and cares very deeply for Yamato. Idefinitely think Yamato’s affection is reciprocated.

[fizzingwizard]

Do you get the feeling Tri would of worked better as a anime series and not 6 movies? It's been feeling rushed lately like they had a plan but now they;re trying to rush through it? Like the Gennai apearing while Hikari was yelling at Homeostasis and the whole Alphamon & Jesmon stuff going on too? I'm just confused and feel like there may not be a satisfying conclusion? and I'm not even sure whats going on with the Apoocomon & Meiccomon & Mei stuff?

 Eh, elsewhere I pointed out that though they said series originally, they never promised an episode count. OVAs are anywhere from like 3 episodes to 13. In fact, 11-13 ep series are pretty normal even when they’re not OVAs.

If they gave us 50 eps, then yeah, I would expect the story to be more robust than Tri. On the other hand, the pacing would have been different (which would make some people happy, but with some exceptions I enjoy the pace of Tri). And ultimately we can’t say how well they’d have pulled it off since it didn’t happen.

But it would far more likely have been 11-13 episodes. Assuming the episode length is typical 25 minutes, that’s only around max 5 ½ hours. Whereas with six 90 min movies, we get about 9 hours. (Plus more - Kokuhaku was longer than the others.)

The sixth movie has so much to cram in that it’s small wonder a lot of us are worried about how well they’ll be able to do it. They will do it imperfectly at best, but I’m not concerned about that because pick nearly any anime movie and it’ll have a similar flaw. In fact I’d even rather they focus on delivering a fun, watchable, moving finale than worry about answering every question, because we can always get our answers to those through interviews post-premiere or, if worse comes to worst, fanfiction :P Of course, to be truly complete and successful, Tri would end with no leftover questions and ends neatly tied up. But that’s hard even for the best creators when they have a time limit, and who knows what their budget is. In my opinion, if the choice “answer all questions even at the cost of face time with the main characters” vs “create an emotional finale that stays true to what gives Digimon its heart,” the latter is definitely what I’m hoping for.

You may also be surprised at how easily some questions are cleared up. The answers may be much simpler than we’re imagining. It’s certainly happened to me a lot where I thought some grand scheme was going done, and then it turned out that X thing was interwoven with Y all along and it’s actually very cut and dry. :P For better or worse.

For example, at the end of Adventure, the children’s ultimate battle against Apocalymon was a way for them to understand that even after gaining the skills to become stronger (metaphor for emotional and mental strength, that is), there would still be times in their lives when they’d feel like those skills had been stripped away. And also, that they can reclaim them, as long as they don’t give up, and that having a support group can make all the difference. That is exactly what I’m expecting to see revisited in Meiko’s part of the finale, so tbh, I don’t think the Apocalymon angle will be too complicated. Taichi just fell into the depths of the earth (lol) with the previous gogglehead he doesn’t even know about - a gogglehead who seems to have a lot to regret about what he didn’t/couldn’t do. And there’s been a recurring theme throughout Tri of “the past repeats itself” and “moving on to the future doesn’t mean what has until now been truly important has to change.” My guess is that everything will tie together in this theme.