#02 analysis

[maryychill]

Digimon Adventure 02: a complete, nostalgia free review

Originally posted on Reddit.

I decided to practice what I preach and watch 02 with no expectations or wounds from the past.

⚠️ Disclaimer: This review is long and goes deep. So if you don't have interest, feel free to scroll past. Also, if you're someone who loves 02 from a place of deep nostalgia and fondness, this review probably isn't for you. It's not my intention to tarnish beautiful memories, just to organize my thoughts and share my opinion.

02 is a series that takes the universe of Adventure and remixes it with a new generation of chosen children, new rules and a completely different tone.

Where does 02 begin?

3 years have passed since the original chosen children returned from the digital world. Peace seemed to have been achieved but a new threat looms.

The digital world is being invaded by Dark Towers that block digivolutions. A mysterious kid, self proclaimed as the Digimon Kaiser, has enslaved digimon using Dark Rings, preventing them from thinking or acting on their own. These towers and rings were powered by the black "D-3" he wields, distorting the rules of the digital world and generating chaos. The original chosen children can't easily enter the digital world as there are no open portals under this new distortion.

That's when new digivices (D-3) appear, selecting 3 new kids: Daisuke, Miyako and Iori. Through a digital gate at their school, they manage to enter the digital world, where they receive Digimentals that allow them to activate Armor Digivolution, an alternative form of evolution that doesn't rely on traditional levels.

Takeru and Hikari, who attend the same school as the new chosen, also join the mission, bringing their prior experience and strong bond with Patamon and Tailmon. Thus forms the new team tasked with facing the Digimon Kaiser.

Digimentals and Crests

In Adventure, the Crests acted as emotional catalysts that enabled digimon to reach the Perfect level when their human partners recognized and embodied a core virtue. It was an inner journey, confronting the shadow, discovering the virtue and letting the bond with their digimon grow.

In 02, this logic is referenced more loosely. The Digimentals seem thematically linked to the old Crests, though their connection is never clearly defined. They no longer act as rewards for revealed virtues. Instead, they appear as symbolic fragments, echoing the emotional legacy of the original chosen children. For example, the Digimental of Friendship could be seen as carrying a trace of Yamato’s legacy.

The first Digimentals appear in the early episodes without much mystery. Daisuke picks up the Digimental of Courage the moment he arrives in the digital world (though that rushing in to help Taichi without knowing anything about the digital world, does require courage). Shortly after, Miyako and Iori receive those of Love and Knowledge without any significant emotional catalyst. Later on, Takeru and Hikari find the Digimentals of Hope and Light, which are directly tied to their original Crests.

In episode 27, Koushiro explains that after defeating the Dark Masters and Apocalymon the original chosen children were summoned back to the digital world to help restore it. According to him, they used the power of their Crests to release a sealed force that protected the digital world, an act that consumed that power and left their digimon unable to evolve to Perfect form again.

Based on that, I believe that the Digimentals, though ancient artifacts that already existed, were reawakened by the journey left by the original chosen children. Their virtues, struggles and the symbolic power infused into their Crests might have resonated through the digital world, aligning the Digimentals with the emotional legacy of the previous generation. Still, Digimentals could be seen as ancient tools that absorbed and reflected the emotional codes of those chosen who came before and this would explain their echo-like nature in 02.

In episode 37, Qinglongmon (one of the Four Holy Beasts who protect the Digital World’s balance) expands on this by confirming that he and the other Holy Beasts had been sealed by the Dark Masters and that, although the chosen defeated them, the seal wasn't broken until the Crests were used (as Koushiro said in episode 27). When the Dark Towers began to distort evolution and threaten the digital world's balance, Qinglongmon said they decided to use the power of ancient lost evolutions (Armor Evolutions) to counter the threat. They created new Digivices (the D-3s) and assigned Digimentals to new children.

Qinglongmon also clarifies that the presence of the Terminal allowed the new children to access more than one Digimental, which wasn't initially anticipated. The first three Digimentals (Courage, Love, Knowledge) were sent to initiate Armor Evolutions, while the subsequent ones (Friendship, Reliability, Purity) were given later as responses to unfolding situations, implying that their distribution was driven by need, not random chance.

Qinglongmon highlights that the Digimentals of Light and Hope are fundamentally different from the others. While Courage, Love and Knowledge represent powers of the human heart, Light and Hope are described as essential forces that sustain the digital world itself. They are not just virtues but foundational energies, Hope that never fades even in darkness and Light that breathes life into the digital world.

This opens the door to interpreting the later Digimentals not as rewards for virtues already mastered but as emotional tools granted during periods of crisis or internal contradiction. The characters receive them not because they embody the corresponding quality but because they are confronting its absence:

Daisuke receives Friendship while feeling unworthy of it.

Iori gets Reliability right after lying.

Miyako, overwhelmed by her impulsiveness, receives Purity after hurting others with her words.

Here, the Digimentals might act more like emotional mirrors or invitations to growth, rather than confirmations of achievement. They don't say “You made it”, they say “Look what you're missing”. However, that potential is left mostly undeveloped. The anime doesn't follow up on these emotional tensions. Unlike the Crests in Adventure, there is no real emotional evolution. The Digimentals function more like keys than like journeys.

Ken's case breaks the pattern entirely. His Digimental of Kindness doesn't come as a reward or inheritance. He embodies it and offers it as a symbol of redemption. It isn't an evolution tool but a healing act. His gesture closes a cycle of pain and seals the spiritual conflict he himself opened as the Digimon Kaiser.

The Digimentals feel like relics from an older system that have been repurposed. Their reactivation seems to reinforce an important idea: the digital world remembers, adapts and responds to the emotional imprints left behind by those who enter it.

What is a D-3?

The D-3 is a next gen Digivice created to reestablish the connection between the real and digital worlds. It allows for Armor and Jogress Evolutions, opening portals and transferring data between both worlds. Its name comes from Digimon, Detect & Discover.

Years before 02, Ken Ichijouji witnesses the appearance of a Digivice in front of him and his brother Osamu, who was seen as a genius by the family while Ken remained in the shadows. The Digivice reacts to Ken, not Osamu but Osamu grabs it, claiming it as his and denying Ken any chance to shine.

After Osamu's sudden death, a broken Ken receives a mysterious email. Driven by his pain and need to finally be someone, he follows the instructions and ends up in the Dark Ocean. There, submerged in that corrupted and symbolic dimension, he drops the Digivice into the dark waters, transforming it into the first D-3 (a black one).

That act not only alters the device but also marks Ken's spiritual fracture, giving birth to the Digimon Kaiser, an identity forged from pain, guilt and a distorted purpose.

In response to this rift, Qinglongmon intervenes, creating the other D-3s and Digimentals, giving them to new chosen children with the mission of restoring balance.

The 02's conflict

The conflict begins with the Digimon Kaiser, who enslaved digimon using Dark Rings, blocked evolutions through Dark Towers, distorted the digital world's balance and even created an artificial digimon: Chimeramon. Although he eventually regained his humanity, defeated and broken by Wormmon's sacrifice, the damage had already been done. His downfall left behind corrupted structures that others quickly adopted, escalating the chaos and pushing the story into a spiral of threats.

Then Archnemon and Mummymon appear, inheriting the Kaiser's structures and using the Dark Towers to create artificial Digimon until Archnemon creates one made from 100 dark towers and her own hair, BlackWarGreymon, whom she immediately loses control of because he ends up having a soul and an existential crisis. Their initial goal seems scattered but it gradually becomes clear that they're trying to destabilize the digital world itself. When they begin targeting the Holy Stones, that destructive path ends up serving a larger plan, the fusion of digital and real worlds.

BlackWarGreymon was a Mega level artificial digimon with a soul and an existential crisis. He didn't seek destruction but meaning. With no worthy opponents, since no Digimon could even reach Perfect level and Jogress barely touched that threshold, he started destroying the Holy Stones hoping to fight Qinglongmon who he saw as a worthy opponent. But his arc led nowhere. After several brooding monologues and repetitive battles, he sacrifices himself in episode 47 to seal the portal at Hikarigaoka only for BelialVamdemon to bypass that entirely by opening a different one moments later, which easily brought him into the digital world anyway. Even WarGreymon's sudden appearance during his sacrifice added nothing, no strategic impact. In the end, BlackWarGreymon was a beautifully designed but hollow character. He wasted time and achieved nothing.

But there's a crucial detail never explicitly stated in 02 and only vaguely explained by Koushiro in episode 27, right after the first Jogress: after Adventure, the original chosen children were summoned again to the digital world. They used their Crests once more to save it and in doing so the Crests vanished again. Though they had already been physically destroyed by Apocalymon, we never knew how the circuits were restored. That one line is the true narrative bridge between Adventure and 02.

As if that weren't enough, in episode 1 we know that Tailmon lost her Holy Ring, the sacred item that boosted her power. But it's not until the final episode that Gennai reveals the ring had always been at the Kaiser's base, serving as a catalyst for Armor Evolutions.

Continuing the overall chaos, Dark Towers begin appearing in the real world triggering unstable portals. The chosen children travel to different regions of the Earth to destroy them, meeting other chosen children from diverse cultures. The digital conflict becomes global, though they somehow manage to resolve it without turning it into a public catastrophe (Koushiro mentions in episode 33 that there are children across the world who have a partner digimon either because they witnessed digimon battles in 1999 or because of a strong inner desire like Ken, but the specifics remain unclear).

Amidst all this, Yukio Oikawa appears, a lonely adult who bumps into Takeru's mother and warns her that "what happened in Odaiba in 1999 was just the beginning". We later discover he worked with Ken's father and was the one who after Osamu's death sent the email that led Ken to the Dark Ocean. It's also revealed that Oikawa was childhood friends with Iori's father, Hiroki Hida. They shared the dream of visiting the digital world and that dream shaped much of Oikawa's scientific work. But Hiroki's death left Yukio deeply wounded, a crack that BelialVamdemon took advantage of. He took control of Oikawa's consciousness just as the original chosen children were returning to the digital world after defeating VenomVamdemon in 1999. From that moment on, Oikawa lived possessed without realizing it, becoming the vessel for a much darker plan. Using his research and personal obsession, he created Archnemon and Mummymon with his own genetic data, twisting his dream into something monstrous. He sent them into the digital world with the help of the Dark Towers left behind by the Digimon Kaiser using them to weaken the world's barriers and continue the mission to fuse both worlds so BelialVamdemon could reign over all dimensions.

Demon also surfaces seeking the Dark Seed he implanted in Ken (?) and since no one knows how to deal with him, they simply toss him into the Dark Ocean.

Oikawa implanted copies of the Dark Seed in Ken into human children. What seemed like science and tech was actually a possession ritual, turning childhood pain into dark energy to revive BelialVamdemon possessing him.

The anime's final stretch is full of mental manipulations and speeches about the frustrations of the 02 chosen. But instead of offering emotional closure to the conflicts raised, 02 relies on a victory powered by "the strength of dreaming and believing" rather than any real combat or emotional growth.

After defeating BelialVamdemon with the power of dreams, Oikawa briefly regains his consciousness. He remembers his dream to go to the digital world. He's assigned a digimon partner, Pipimon, who offers almost just two words: "hello" and "goodbye", as Oikawa sacrifices himself to restore the digital world with his own life force.

If you ask me, the true villain of 02 is... its own script.

The Dark Ocean and the existence of multiple worlds

In episode 34, Hikari and Takeru theorize about something crucial: there are more worlds beyond the real, digital and dark ones. Hikari was summoned to the Dark Ocean through her light and its existence redefines the structure of the Digimon universe introducing dimensions that don't follow logic or code but are instead shaped by human virtues and emotions.

That experience took place in episode 13 when Hikari was pulled into the Dark World, a dimension with a dark ocean inhabited by presences that called to her without words. And while the group didn't understand what was happening, Takeru felt it deeply and managed to bring her back. The Dark Ocean is not a realm of evil but a dark spiritual dimension, a manifestation of emotions like emptiness, sadness, pain or disconnection.

In episode 23 we see that Ken also ended up in that place after Osamu's death. Driven by grief, he received an email that guided him to the Dark Ocean. That place didn't tempt him, it absorbed him. His pain became structure.

In episode 31, when Silphymon's jogress first occurs, the chosen children enter a forest that seemed to act like a portal or a space of spiritual convergence as if it connected to the Dark Ocean or made access to deeper emotional realms easier. Hikari and Ken, being more attuned to that darkness, sensed it immediately. Miyako was also pulled into that space, but, not sharing the same spiritual sensitivity, couldn't see what they saw. While Hikari felt the calling of another world and Ken recognized its pull, Miyako only perceived confusion. What happened there wasn't a spatial distortion, but an emotional connection to a dimension that responds to the soul.

Finally, in episode 50, Gennai explains that the dimension they were pulled into during the battle against BelialVamdemon is a space where emotions and desires take form, a dimension without spatial logic, constantly shifting, reacting to what they feel. He also adds something fundamental: the digital world works in a similar way. In other words, both worlds, the digital and that symbolic one, are influenced by the awareness and emotional state of those who enter within them.

02 plants a powerful philosophical seed: the Digimon universe isn't just made of data, nor does it expand solely into alternate planes, it expands into worlds generated by human emotion.

The 02 cast

Daisuke Motomiya: The anime hints at a distant family dynamic and a strained relationship with his sister (something Takeru, Yamato and Hikari openly reject framing it as a lack of respect toward his family) but by the end he suddenly gets along with both his parents and sister without any emotional groundwork to justify that shift. Early on Daisuke has a crush on Hikari, feels overshadowed by Takeru and ends up competing with him (in his own head) for her attention. But this tension fades as his emotional focus turns entirely toward Ken and his redemption arc. Daisuke initially inherits the Digimental of Courage and while he's not mature or strategic he acts from emotion. The Digimental of Friendship chooses him at his lowest when he feels useless and frustrated unsure how to help Taichi and Takeru recover Agumon and Patamon from the Kaiser's control because he doesn't understand what bonds mean having none of his own (hi V-mon, bye V-mon). Later his impulsive decision to rush into the Kaiser's base with Wormmon guided him to temporarily wield the Digimental of Kindness triggering Magnamon's evolution and deepening his connection with Ken. He's also the one who stops Ken from sacrificing himself in a moment of emotional clarity. He understands that healing matters more than punishment and that Ken deserves a second chance. That moment shows a rare maturity in Daisuke grounded in empathy. Their connection then triggers the first Jogress not through force or strategy but because they can literally feel each other's heart. But his arc collapses near the end of the anime (episode 49) when Daisuke is suddenly positioned as a source of inspiration. He claims to BelialVamdemon that he has no worries because he has friends family and a digimon (as if that didn't apply to everyone else too) and to me that line undercuts the emotional weight he could've earned.

Ken Ichijouji: His arc follows a classic structure: introduction (a chosen child), downfall (Digimon Kaiser), redemption (after Wormmon's death), reintegration (acceptance by the group) and a symbolic act of healing (offering the Digimental of Kindness). Throughout the anime, he struggles with guilt over his past actions, grief over Osamu's death and the difficulty of believing he's worthy of connection. He's the only character whose inner conflict has concrete effects on the digital world, emotional consequences in his relationships and symbolic weight through the Digimental.

Iori Hida: His arc revolves around the conflict between the rigid morality inherited from his family and the need to adapt to complex situations. He receives the Digimental of Knowledge (ironically, he's one of the least open to the unknown) and later the Digimental of Reliability just as he faces his first ethical dilemma, lying to protect the group. He struggles to perform Jogress with Takeru because he can't accept that someone can embody both light and darkness but then this conflict is resolved abruptly. In the last four episodes, we learn that his father was the main antagonist's best friend but this connection has no emotional impact on the story or Iori's growth.

Miyako Inoue: She gets the Digimental of Love early on. Her arc is more episodic than progressive, marked by impulsiveness, lack of filter and a series of emotional crises that never quite resolve. She receives the Digimental of Purity in an episode where she, unable to hold back, lashes out at Digitamamon. She has moments of doubt about being a chosen child especially when she doesn't want to go to the digital world to fight or when she's hesitant to confront a threatening digimon. From the first episode she shows admiration for Koushiro and a clear interest in computers. She often assists him directly, like when they help Yamato with music or when she leaves Poromon with him during the Kyoto trip episode. In that sense, her connection with Knowledge feels more consistent than the traits associated with Love. Her bond with Hikari hints at some self reflection but 02 never explores this in depth. During BelialVamdemon's Mind Illusion attack, she dreams of being an only child, longing for privacy away from the chaos of her big family, yet ironically in the epilogue she ends up as a mother of three and a housewife. Maybe the Digimental of Love makes sense in the end because at some point she embraces what it means to have a family but 02 never shows or builds up to that.

Hikari Yagami: She started 02 with the same calm strength she displayed in Adventure, initially guiding the new group. However, her journey soon intertwined with the Dark Ocean, which called to her from a deep spiritual plane. Throughout the anime, Hikari faced growing tension between her inner light and the fear of her latent darkness. Her Jogress with Miyako to form Silphymon signified a crucial emotional integration, connecting her with an impulsive and contradictory personality through empathy. When Qinglongmon met the chosen, he recognized her as a bearer of an original virtue essential for restoring balance. This arc contrasted sharply with her portrayal in Adventure, where she handled light/dark duality with serenity. In 02, her calm dissolved, revealing a more fragile Hikari. By the end, during both Demon's banishment to the Dark Ocean and the battle with BelialVamdemon, her emotional breakdown exposed an unresolved struggle with darkness. This closed her arc with a vulnerability that no longer aligned with her previous symbolic strength.

Takeru Takaishi: He began 02 confident with experience and a clear understanding of what being a chosen child meant. However, during the Digimon Kaiser arc, he lost control, attacking Ken for using Devimon's data. This act triggered a trauma from Adventure that, while not explicitly shown before, became central to his emotional narrative. Later, his genuine fear of losing Patamon exposed a hidden vulnerability beneath his apparent maturity. Despite being emotional opposites, he managed to Jogress with Iori, the group's most rigid member. Qinglongmon also named him a key figure in restoring balance, but like with Hikari, this plotline wasn't explored further. In the illusion caused by BelialVamdemon, it was revealed that Takeru's core pain wasn't losing Angemon, but rather his parents' separation. This topic contrasted sharply with earlier episodes that had depicted him calmly coexisting with his divided family.

I like these characters, they're charming. I just wish the writers had actually committed to developing them with the care they deserved.

The impact of digimon on the real world

After the chaos unleashed by VenomVamdemon in Odaiba (1999), entities like Gennai directly intervened in the digital world's code to prevent any human attempt to study that dimension from succeeding. It was a containment measure but also an act of denial: by rewriting the code, access to key information was blocked and humanity was left unable to truly understand what had happened.

This explains why, even after the events of The Movie (around 1996) and the battle in Odaiba (1999), almost no one remembers the digimon, despite massive public encounters like Greymon vs. Parrotmon or the disaster caused by VenomVamdemon. The digital system manipulated data and perception to blurry those experiences from collective memory.

3 years later, in 02, the Dark Towers begin to physically emerge across the planet, destabilizing the environment and generating unstable portals. Digimon start manifesting more consistently and destructively in the human world. Structures collapse, routines are interrupted and the threat becomes global. Yet, most people still don't know what digimon are or how to respond to them. Even by the final episode, we're told that humans still don't understand what digimon are, highlighting a social, legal and scientific vacuum that's never addressed during 02.

Then comes the epilogue: 25 years into the future, we suddenly see a world where every child has a digimon. There's no explanation of how communication barriers, collective fear or the manipulated original code were overcome.

The Epilogue

Set 25 years later (2027), it presents a utopian future where every human has a digimon partner. It aims to deliver a grand conclusion to the human-digimon bond but nothing in 02 really builds up to this moment. The epilogue feels more like a final chapter written to close the story completely.

But ironically, it left so much unexplained especially what happened between the end of 02 and that future that it created space for something new to emerge.

In the final moments, the narrator says:

"Light and darkness dwell in the hearts of people and the world and their battle will be eternal. But as long as you remember the power of light within your heart to make your dreams come true, everything will be alright. You are the one who will turn the pages of new adventures."

It's a line that unintentionally contradicts the idea of a definitive ending and perhaps that contradiction is what made Tri, Kizuna, The Beginning and Beyond possible.

What I didn't like

Everything felt pulled out of a hat. The rules changed almost every 5 episodes and the characters just rolled with it without narrative logic.

Episode 36, where Shakkoumon appears, is pure narrative chaos. It starts with Iori and Ken arriving late to the mission, setting the tone for a team without serious commitment. The group fails to protect the Holy Stone because evolutions don't work due to hunger (with multiple unnecessary evolution sequences that were exhausting to watch), strategies are forgotten mid mission and objectives keep shifting between stopping Archnemon, dealing with BlackWarGreymon or just finding food. No one takes charge and decisions are reactive. Takeru and Iori Jogress without alignment, simply because the plot needs it and after all that, they sit down for chinese food and laugh. A complete mess.

They didn't fight anything real. They debated moral dilemmas like: "Is it okay to attack a demonic, child murdering digimon with the word demon in its name?" 🫠 Homeostasis should've granted them the Crest of Common Sense.

The BlackWarGreymon and Qinglongmon arc drained me. It was so painfully dull I had to force myself to continue days later. Dense, soulless, boring episodes. I didn't watch 02, I survived it.

Too many TED Talks: Qinglongmon, Gennai, Koushiro, even Sora's dad. Everything was explained, not felt. One big powerpoint of hollow speeches.

02 felt like it was trying to blend emotional depth into a chaotic smoothie, mixing themes like Ken's redemption, the new emotional struggles of Takeru and Hikari, the existential dilemma of an artificial digimon, japanese philosophy and Qinglongmon as a symbolic parallel, darkness as a dimension, Oikawa's grief and loneliness, all shaken together with endless towers, holy vs. evil stuffs and underdeveloped new characters.

The nostalgia was overused. I love Adventure but 02 never really committed to its own story. Every time the tension dropped or the narrative lost direction, it fell back on Taichi, Agumon, WarGreymon, LadyDevimon or vague callbacks to make up for the lack of development in the actual 02 cast.

The epilogue is a forced jump. Suddenly everyone has a digimon, everyone is happy and everyone has kids who almost look like clones of their parents. No development, no transition.

What little I did like

The idea of a chosen child becoming the villain. Starting the story with a corrupted chosen instead of a generic evil digimon was bold.

Ken's arc. It has a beginning, a fall, a redemption and a symbolic closure.

Armor and Jogress Evolutions as concepts. Not their execution but the ideas.

The music. Both the opening theme and the evolution tracks bring back a wave of nostalgia. They elevate even the flattest scenes.

Takeru's conflict with Devimon. Watching him lose that usual light and composure gave his character a rare, unexpected glimpse into the darker side of Hope.

Some micro interactions between the original chosen. Whenever they appeared, I could feel the history behind them.

I wouldn't watch it all over again but I'm glad I watched it. 02 is definitely not for me but it's important. Not for what it achieves but for what it leaves unresolved. And thanks to that, the rest of the saga got to shine.

If you're interested, these reviews might also be worth reading:

Digimon Adventure (before 02)

Digimon Adventure Tri (after 02)

[seventeenlovesthree]

Yamato Ishida's clothing style - a meta analysis

Since Yamato has won the fashion analysis poll ahead of Sora, Mimi, Takeru and Hikari, he'll be the third to get one after Koushirou and Taichi. Fortunately - and interestingly enough -, he might be one of the easier cases among all the Chosen Children, because he has very consistent themes and motifs going on, so let's get this on step by step:

Adventure (+ Our War Game), age 11/12:

Even though the kids do not change clothes very often throughout the series, we can still find a few of the aforementioned "themes and motifs" for Yamato here: Starting with his signature sleeveless/turtleneck shirt in Adventure, his favourite - and thus associated - colour appears to be green and since he seems to prefer overall dark colours, you will usually (but not exclusively) see him wear darker shades. This can also be observed during OWG, where he wears a dark brown button-down shirt - which will turn out to be a common theme in addition to dark jeans or pants. Plus, unlike most of the other male characters, you will almost NEVER see him wear sneakers, because he's clearly a "boots" kind of guy.

As for his hair, this is where the classic "cool boy haircut" with the spikes and side fringe found its origins (which is also pretty close to how his father wears his hair).

02 (+ Diablomon Strikes Back), age 14/15:

This is where the "rockstar phase" begins and even though green doesn't make an appearance here, he consistently sticks to dark colours - mostly blacks and browns - as well as complementing boots, button-downs or turtlenecks. Despite him being the leader of his own band, his style is something I would personally describe as very neat, almost unagitated and thus more in line with his introverted side - which can be interpreted as him trying to be somewhat lowkey, not intending to attract too much attention. But at the same time, his style (= dark clothes in contrast to his blond hair) naturally creates a sense of "mysterious aloofness" (as it may be described by his fans, such as Jun. While it is also never explicitly stated, we know that he has European/French genes from his mother's side, so this may or may not add to his visual appearance easily attracting attention and popularity).

In terms of his school uniform, he doesn't go all out on being extravagant either, but instead chooses "the middle ground" between Taichi's "loose and casual" and Koushirou's "neat and correct" style by wearing the blazer closed but leaving out the tie. It's still overall very correct, with a hue of "coolness".

Diablomon Strikes Back then adds two more motifs for him, implying him becoming more and more comfortable growing into "his own": From this point on, we will see him wear little accessories like rings and necklaces - which, as we will see later, may even have a link to Gabumon one way or another. He also starts to wear more layers from now on, such as (college or leather) jackets - which will become more prominent later.

The "cool boy haircut" has grown out a little, softening the spikes. Not only could this be seen as him "differentiating" himself a little from his father (which is a common interpretation of the hairstyle change); it also gives him more of a J-pop-star vibe and makes him appear more "chill" in general (whereas I can only assume he was considered more of a "surfer boy" in Western fandoms back in the day).

Tri, age 17:

While he has cut his (still softened) hair a little bit shorter again, he overall maintains an effortlessly "casual but cool" style: Not only have the green tones returned to his wardrobe, the boots are also still there (even if they're not visible on the picture evidence). The ensemble is usually complimented by elements from his aforementioned DSB/"rockstar" phase: We see him wearing necklaces and chains in his everyday outfits, simple (black, green or even white) shirts with or without prints and with or without cardigans or jackets - and we can also tell he has gotten generally more daring (and a little less "tame") by wearing ripped jeans.

His school uniform is still more or less "neat", but even though he has added the tie, he wears everything more loosely than he did in 02. For his Summer school uniform, he also chooses to wear a long-sleeved shirt rolled up - instead of the short-sleeved ones all the other male characters wear.

Kizuna, age 22:

As a young adult, he basically tries to marry the majority of his previously mentioned themes into one consistent style: His signature cool-boy hairstyle - neat, short, spiky - has returned as well as the dark greens and the boots. In general, his colour palette consists of green, black and white - with an interesting case of grey in the middle of the movie. Similarly to Taichi, this may or may not have some special implications: Taichi wears an asymmetrical shirt, black on the left (covering his "heart"), blue (his favourite colour) and white on the right ("light") side, indicating his insecurities in terms of what's the right path. In contrast, Takeru wears all of his associated colours (VERY colourful green shades), as does Koushirou (orange), while also wearing a pristine white shirt - they're both not at risk of losing their partners, they're both on the light side, whereas Yamato and Taichi are completely at a loss. Yamato, who wears a grey button-down shirt, appears to be just as torn about his future and current situation as Taichi is, having abandoned his beloved music and hesitantly contemplating a future in the military. Which is also why he may wear a dog tag - and, as mentioned previously, this may also be a reminder of his bond to Gabumon after all. (And on a lovely little side note, I assume that Takeru starts wearing necklaces at the time of The Beginning to signify his own bond to Yamato.)

In terms of layers, we see him wear leather jackets, blazers and vests, everything being mostly "neat and correct" (again), with the same sense of effortless coolness he always had (but, if you wanna follow Kizuna's course of action, it may also display a sense of insecurity that leads him to choose style cues from the past over trying to move forward. I do like his Kizuna style and there is nothing wrong with returning to what you are familiar with, especially because most of it is definitely and consistently "him" - but that interpretation would also be in line with Kizuna's message, "forcing" oneself to conform and be a responsible adult.) One interesting addition are the red (!) glasses he wears during lectures, which is a colour we haven't seen him consider before. (Since it's "red", a possible interpretation could be that Sora gifted it to him - Kizuna is very persistent with its colours after all.)

Beyond, ???

Now things are getting a little more tricky, because we do not exactly know how old Yamato is supposed to be in these sketches - since this could be Kakudou's interpretation of post 02/DSB!Yamato as well as him being somewhere in his later 20's, also according to Kakudou's vision. I've tried to put my thoughts on this style into words here already, but to summarize it very quickly here: It's interesting that we see the grown-out 02 haircut again, as well as the earring - if we follow my interpretation of 02!Yamato, this only means that he has grown even more comfortable with himself to dress and present himself as less neat and also "less spiky" (= less aggressive in personality).

The epilogue, approximately age 39:

Last but not least, the epilogue shows our astronaut choosing the same colour palette and style cues 02!Yamato had already been famous for: Blacks and browns, glimpses of beige, a turtleneck and a (leather) jacket. His hairstyle is back to being the exact same as his father's - and as for now, there is not a lot to say about that without having the full context of where "Beyond" may eventually lead him in this timeline.

So my final verdict is: As mentioned at the beginning of this post, most of Yamato's style choices have a coherent theme: cool, effortless, mostly unagitated, sophisticated and tame, but with a glimpse of growing "rebellion". You can tell he confidently knows his favourite colours - mostly dark greens, black and brown with softening tints of grey, beige and white. He loves his (short or no-sleeved) shirts (with or without print), button-downs, turtlenecks and boots - and sometimes even dares to put on something like leather jackets or vests over those. What he appears to be a little unsure about is the consistent usage of accessories - and his hairstyle.

While the dog tag may be one of his more prominent features at this point (potentially signifying his bond with Gabumon), the state of his hair may or may not indicate how comfortable he is with his identity. Next to Taichi and Sora - and due to him still dealing with the aftermath of his parents' divorce -, he is the one who struggles the most with where he sees himself in the future. We know he has a high sense of responsibility (especially for those he cares about) and tries to find rational solutions, but may let his emotions get the best of him sometimes, hindering communication, so that may be where the inconsistencies stem from. While his clothing style is mostly tame and neat, indicating his wish for order, it has these little moments of (emotional) "rebellion" in it at times; rings, necklaces, ripped jeans - all things he tried out at some point, but doesn't seem to be 100% sure of, since he doesn't consistently wear them. Whether that's because he feels like he has to conform and fit into society as he grows older, abandoning music because it's not a "feasible career" - or simply feels more comfortable wearing his signature haircut (and "what he already knows") once again. One could also interpret his return to his old hairstyle as a sign that he may have grown closer to his father, thus feeling more comfortable "merging" all these style elements and finding a middle ground, slowly but steadily - but whether or not that is true, I am not able to tell.

[alpaca-clouds]

Some things about the BEYOND PV

So, let's quickly (well, you know how "quick" I am in these) talk about Digimon Adventure BEYOND, aka the PV that they dropped at the Digimon Con yesterday. Before I talk about anything else, let's quickly address again what this is and what it isn't.

This is not a trailer. This is a PV meant to release and stand on its own. According to @ayukaze's translations of the website, this is basically based on some stuff that once upon a time was planned to tie into the final episode of 02 but in the end did not make it into the actual show. Though, obviously there is some fanservice in regards to the stuff that released since then going on with possible cameos of both Meiko and Rui.

But general, yeah, it is not really surprising that some of what we see does not line up with events from tri., Kizuna and The Beginning, because if what the site says is true, and right now there is no reason to doubt it, this is based on stuff that was written or at least pitched long before tri., Kizuna and The Beginning were written or even thought of.

Now, again, this is not a trailer for either a Trailer or OVA. Though, let's be fully honest: If fandom eats this up, chances are that Toei & Bandai might milk the Digimon Adventure cow a bit more and make this into a movie or OVA or something else. I mean, let's face it. Even with this just being a darn PV, they probably are going to make some merchandise of the designs of the adult kids in this video. lol

This being based on ideas thrown around in 2000 also explains why there are some call backs to some stuff that has been brought up in 02 and never mentioned again.

Before I am starting with overanalyzing this thing, let me quickly once more invite everyone to the Digimon Rewatch Discord Server. A general SFW Digimon Discord Server - mainly for a community rewatch, but you can also just join to discuss the show and games.

But let's go through some of the stuff we can see here, and what we can tell from it.

We start with the intro calling back to the epilogue of 02 with Takeru's novels and him writing. I did a translation of this writing of his yesterday. No guarantees of the correctness, my Japanese sucks ass. But I let a friend check it, so I guess it is not totally wrong.

“It's okay, you don't need to worry about it from now on [...] The Digimon next to you is [...] [...] is the Digimon behind me. [...] They look completely different, and [...] [...] me and you have partner Digimon. [...] I heard that you can't go back to your family [...] [...] and that you've been going through a tough time. But it's okay now. [...] I'll take you to a place where you can live safely. [...] [...] They'll be here soon. [...] They're really reliable people. [...] They've saved the world from danger many times before [...] I'm not much older than you, but [...] do you know the country of Japan? I'm from there. [...]

This is where the video cuts over to Kuwagamon flying away while a car is on the road.

With the Kuwagamon we hear some thanks to "Yuri", which will obviously is a reference to the Russian Chosen Child Yuri, whose partner is Kuwagamon.

If you look at the license plate of the car this also confirms that we are in Russia right now and this is happening in Russia. (And yes, the license plate is an easter egg: DM 2581B - Digimon 2025-8-1 Beyond. No, do not expect them to release anything related to this on August 1st. It is just because we have the year 2025 and August 1st is Odaiba Memorial.)

Referencing the translation by @ayukaze again, there was apparently this idea that with more and more Chosen Children appearing, some militaries would try to forcefully recruit those kids and their Digimon. And it makes sense in this regard that the dialogue above is Iori talking to the kid he and possibly Yuri and maybe the other Russian chosen have just rescued.

It is kinda ironic, if this idea had been around forever, given how rosy the actual epilogue let the entire "everyone has a Digimon partner" thing seem. Because, yeah, I absolutely do agree with this idea. The militaries trying to recruit those kids who might or might not end up with a nuclear missile shooting dinosaur makes a hella lot of sense. lol

The kid in question has a Kyaromon as their partner. The kid seems to be probably between like 10 and 13 years old - it is kinda hard to say in this artstyle. Just as the gender is not quite clear, though given they do not have eyelashes, I guess they might be a boy.

Kyaromon obviously would not have featured in the anime in 2000 or 2001 (when that last episode aired) given it was only introduced in 2005.

While they are driving, Taichi and Yamato talk. Apparently Yamato got himself an international driver's license, and also calls out Taichi for still not being good with English. Mind you, this is something I will still give 02 credit for back in the day: While with some of the kids the language issue did not come up (especially in America, where they just handwaved the issue with "Oh, Mimi taught everyone Japanese") they generally addressed the issue of cooperating with folks who speak another language. That was neat.

Taichi also mentions that he has recently learning some French from Yamato's grandpa. Which is a nice callback. Though if I am understanding the way Yamato speaks in his reply correctly, it sounds as if said grandpa has very recently passed away.

They then get attacked by a Digimon - Yatagaramon to be exact. Yatagaramon like Kyaromon was introduced in the Digimon Accel in 2005, so yeah, it also would not have been around back then. But I guess in general those enemy Digimon are quite exchangable. I guess if something like this would have featured in 02, it would have been Airdramon, which was kinda 02's go-to Digimon for "random flying Digimon to fight" lol

Something I found cute though, as Taichi pulls out a smartphone for Iori to open a portal to the Digital World, the phone has the Pinable Logo on it.

For context: Back when Adventure was written, it was really super hard in Japan to bring in actual brands into anime and manga. That was also why you would regularly see "WcDonalds" in anime, as they could not just use "McDonalds". So Koshiro has technically a MAC, but they could not use the Apple brand. So they turned it into a pineapple. Which is adorable and a nice callpack with the iPhone here.

Obviously I am going to argue that very likely this smartphone would not have featured either in a possible version in the last episode, given that they probably did not see the smartphone coming.

Though I really enjoyed this little thing, given that just days ago I had been talking to a friend on whether or not it would be possible to open the Digital Gate from a modern smartphone or not.

What follows is Iori and the Russian Chosen child disappearing into the Digital World, while Agumon and Gabumon evolve into Greymon and Garurumon. Not much to say here, other than that I really liked how they designed the evolution sequence here. It is neat. :D

From there we cut a bit more.

We have this scene with Takeru and Shuu who seem to be meeting in the real world somewhere. I base this on the fact that the Digital World in this trailer once more uses this kinda aquarell look that they had been using for it in the Adventure/02 series.

I am honestly kinda psyched to see Shuu here (as well as later on Shin and Daisuke's sister Jun), given that I always was a big fan of the siblings and families in the series.

As some of you might know: Back in the day there was one of the Drama CDs that also featured Shuu, Jun, as well as Miyako's sister Chizuru and Momoe meeting their partners. Which obviously then was fully ignored by tri., Kizuna and The Beginning. Yes, I get that I am probably one of like three people who cared about those characters, but man, I really would have loved to see their partners. xD

They are also turning around in this scene to a figure that might be Lui? Though given again that Lui definitely was not thought off back when 02 aired, this obviously would not have been a part of that episode.

It obviously could also be another character, given we only see the legs.

We have then some shots of Koshiro in a labcoat with "Izumi Labs" written on it clearly doing some research that also involves Kabuterimon firing an attack into some technical thingie.

The only thing I really can say here is that him having his own lab makes me wonder about the epilogue, where it seemed he was working for some international organization. Though I absolutely see Koshiro having his own research lab.

Still: no idea how this is connected to anything else we see going on.

We also see Jyou on Ikkakumon putting on his Doctor's coat, which makes me think he gets ready to take care of some other kid or maybe some Digimon. Notably this seems to be happening in the real world as well - as once more there is not this "aquarell" effect either.

And also notable: There is a rope around Ikkakumon's horn, meaning they seem to be transporting something across the water.

Again, given the lack of context - and knowing the context only exists probably in some notes that Kakudo has taken many, many years ago (clearly being more organized about his notes than Konaka, mind you, but that is a story for another day)... Ah, it is frustrating, eh?

We also see Mimi and Sora with Togemon and Birdramon - both clearly in the Digital World given here we see the aquarelly dots in the background.

I have seen a lot of posts since this was dropped yesterday noting how both look a whole lot more like their Adventure and 02 designs than they did in either tri., Kizuna or The Beginning. Which makes a whole lot of sense though if you think that this was originally based on something that might have featured in 02.

Though it also makes a whole lot of sense that it did ultimately not feature in 02, given that 02 was struggling for time and budget at times, and asking the animators and designers to design some "20-somethings designs" for the characters additionally to the epilogue designs for like one episode worth of content or something would probably have send someone over the edge.

There is however one thing I do note.

Mind you, I have currently a post scheduled for the Tuesday after next where I am ranting about that accursed epilogue. And part of the rant is also me going into the girls being reduced to their feminity.

Now, one of my big beefs with Kakudo has always been his tendency to defend the decisions for certain... traditionalist aspects both in regards to the epilogue and generally some of the writing in Adventure/02. And he will obviously again and again maintain that the epilogue had always planned and was always planned and is always considered and Kizuna and The Beginning totally did not contradict the epilogue whatsoever, which makes me just roll my eyes - because obviously it does.

Like, I do not doubt that certain aspects of the epilogue were being thrown around all along and it was talked about during the making of Adventure, but not for a minute I am going to buy that every single aspect of it was planned all along.

And one thing here that is noticable and has been called out by quite a few folks: Sora is a lot more tomboyish again, while basically everything since tri. worked very hard to make her more a girls' girl, given that is where she eventually ends up in the epilogue. Which makes me do a bit of a doubletake here.

Then we have this shot of Mimi and Togemon facing a cloud of black somethings (I mean this is Adventure-verse where "Black XYZ" was a very usual plot device to make Digimon go evil, so there is definitely that) in the Digital World. Though something I find a whole lot more interesting is the apparently falling tree-thingie in the background.

This made me instantly go "Yggdrasil". Which is ironic, because Yggdrasil was only added to the Digimon lore in 2003.

This might just be a freakishly large tree in the weird Digital World. But the association is still there.

And then we have a scene that possibly features Arachnemon in a hospital where seemingly both Shin and Jun are working by the looks of it. It is not quite clear if the nurse is Jun, but it definitely looks like her, I gotta say. Especially given that the red hair color was not particularly common in Digimon.

And again: I love Jun. She is annoying, but in a cute way. She is just this typical teenage girl, but in a way that I actually found quite amusing.

Then we have this shot of Sora and Birdramon again in the Digital World fighting seemingly again against "Black Somethings" - though here it is a bit easier to see that those things seem to be some sort of hexagons. Does this mean anything? Nope, for now it doesn't, but yeah, seems to be hexagons.

Also we see some large thingies behind the clouds, that also might be really big trees? I don't know. Just wanted to note that.

Then there is this scene of Taichi, Agumon, Yamato and Gabumon jumping into the light. Which... Uhm...

Okay, frankly, I have no clue what is going on there. But something clearly is going on.

First association obviously is kinda the Internet scene from Bokura no Wargame, as it featured the shadows being quite similar, but that is just a very typical design for very harsh shadows in animation, so... yeah, that might be nothing. *shrug*

Certainly mysterious. Which is great for a standalone PV that is not a trailer for anything... lol

Then there is this shot of some folks standing around in the Digital World. Those folks clearly are international children. We do see some familiar faces among them, too. Most notably Yuehon, Mina, a boy that might be Yuri, and a guy who at least has the same scarf as Steve. Not sure about the others. (Kinda sad we do not see Chicos or Catherine.)

Those Chosen stand in front of a hill or something on which we see then Daisuke and Ken in their adult designs. (No screenshots for them due to tumblr limiting the amount of pictures I can post.)

It is noticable that while V-mon and Wormmon are with Daisuke and Ken, the international Chosen... uhm... Young Adults are without their partners it seems.

Then we get this shot of Hikari and Miyako flying on Nefermon and Horusmon in the Digital World, which clearly is a callback to the 02 Opening - of which we have a couple of call backs happening in the next few seconds. lol

The two of them are dragging also some sort of line or something along, which we see more off in the next shot.

They seem to be opening up some sort of portal - though the weird thing about this shot most certainly is that there is like several Horusmon. Sure, like, there can be, but... This does seem weird, right?

I mean, we have seen the Digimon multiplying in the finale of 02 of course - and who knows what kind of portal they are opening... But yeah.

Given that we see a similar effect to this portal with Koshiro and Kabuterimon in the lab sequence before, I am somehow assuming this is related to Koshiro's research, but... Again, we do not have a whole lot of context for any of this.

And then we get the really weird stuff. We see Daisuke rising along in a clear callback to the opening of 02 again on Lighdramon. However, it is not just Lighdramon, but also Boarmon (Armadimon's evolution with the Digimebtal of Courage), Elephamon (Armadimon's evolution with the Digimebtal of Miracles out of all things), Goatmon (Tailmon and the Digimebtal of Hope), Lynxmon (Tailmon and the Digimebtal of Courage), and Bullmon (Wormmon and the Digimebtal of Hope).

Most notably: While in the coming two shots we see more Armor Digimon, these have only the common through line of "they are all named [animal]mon" lol This is a really weird collection.

Then we have Ken and Puchiemon (who was tradionally Wormmon and the Digimetal of Kindness) with some more Armor Digimon: Pipismon (Patamon and the Digimental of Love), Searchmon (Wormmon and the Digimetal of Knowledge), Harpiemon (Hawkmon and the Digimental of Light), Thunderbirmon (a really weird one because it was not part of the original Armor Digimon but released only when Frontier came out, so it is either Gottsumon or Impmon and the Digimental of Friendship), Flybeemon (Hawkmon and the Digimental of Knowledge), Pteranomon (Armadimon and the Digimental of Love) and Honeybeemon (V-mon and the Digimental of Knowledge).

(If you wanna hear something sad: I knew most of these without looking them up. Thank you brain, for holding onto this information for 25 years. I guarantee you, it was more important than French.)

And lastly we see Iori and Submarimon surrounded by even more Armor Digimon: Orcamon (Hawkmon and the Digimental of Reliability), Manbomon (Patamon and the Digimental of Light), Depthmon (V-mon and the Digimental of Reliability), Mantaraymon (Patamon and the Digimental of Reliability), Seahomon (Armadimon and the Digimental of Light), Tylomon (Tailmon and the Digimental of Reliability), and finally Archelomon (Wormmon and the Digimental of Reliability).

Why are there so many of the Armor Digimon?

I have no clue in hell. Especially as sometimes Armor evolutions of the same Digimon can be seen in these shots. Sure, most of these Armor Digimon can also be another Digimon either as an adult evolution, or an another one using the same Digimental... But it is still hella weird.

But then again, we never saw the Digimentals being used in anything that took place post the end of 02, so... Yeah, there is that, I guess.

We also have these shots of Hikari closing this door on Meiko before being attacked by a dark cloud that then gets dispearsed by Tailmon. Note that this clearly takes place in the Digital World once more, given that we see the splotches of aquarel in here.

Again: Whenever this was originally conceived Meiko clearly was not part of it. But yeah, whatever. xD

And we also have this shot of Takeru and Patamon going into what certainly looks like the Dark Ocean - another thing that we have not heard from since it was a concept fully underexplored by 02. Which certainly is a choice here.

Lastly we have a shot of Imperialdramon Dragon Mode flying over a dark forest towards a castle, that clearly is a callback to the Imperialdramon evolution sequence, where we see exactly the same thing happen. The castle looks a bit different, sure, but to be fair, the evolution sequence is a 3D thing that has aged horribly on the basis of being 3D created in the year of our lord 2000.

From this we basically zoom out into this shot of the goggles, where we see the goggles of Taichi/Daisuke, Takato, Takuya, Taiki and Taiki/Tagiru (in Hunters). Which probably does not really mean much other than being some symbolism that this is also something that lay beyond the ending of 02, I guess.

All in all, as I said: This is a standalone short film so to speak, not a trailer. However, let's face it, there was at least some thought to hope that folks would be begging to get the full story now in the hope to milk the DIgimon Adventure cow further dry.

And I mean, like many people I am kinda sick of everything being about Digimon Adventure and stuff - though I will also say, that I am actually kinda relieved we did not get a whole lot of post-canon DIgimon Tamers stuff. And be it just because I have my own very established headcanon for that.

Still, even being sick of Adventure getting more and more stuff... I kinda would watch a movie or OVA of this, I gotta say. Preferably an OVA, I think.

Especially as this has a lot of the stuff that I wanted to see in tri., Kizuna and The Beginning and never did: More of the international kids, Shuu, Shin and Jun (possibly also Momoe and Chizuru), and some more evolutions than just again and again Omegamon and Imperialdramon.

So yeah, if they should decide to turn this into something real... I would probably not hate it.

[linkons-most-wanted]

Decoherence reaction 💫🍎

I had my gems and stamina saved, so of course I had to get both memories immediately and watch them today 🥺 There will be spoilers below but Tumblr mobile doesn't respect the "keep reading" content break so I'm gonna try to make sure this is long enough and spoiler-free before the break. 😅

While I kinda wish the event had a mini game, I love how beautiful and thematic it is. Having moments in the main timeline that sort of quietly mirror the myth timeline is always just, yes, yum.

Alright, from this point, DECOHERENCE SPOILERS BELOW.

Okay, first off, this myth is so sci-fi and I LOVE that we're getting something futurey! I also love the medieval and fairy tale vibes, it's just great to get the variety and I think Caleb's such a good character for it.

Science!

First off, the name of the myth Decoherence, specifically references the concept from Quantum Mechanics. I'll dig deeper into it and get the verbatim quotes as I add the myth to my lore database, but for now, recall how the experiment summaries mention issues of quantum entanglement between them and planet-ending consequences if their energy is allowed to resonate too much. Caleb mentions an "interference module", and in quantum physics, Decoherence describes when "interference effects are artificially or spontaneously suppressed". Note here that "interference" in quantum mechanics means that one particle can affect the other. So, poetically, decoherence describes the way that the modifications are preventing MC and Caleb from being together.

Creation and destruction

But it goes a layer deeper. MC and Caleb's power is "from the same source" and their powers are Destruction (destructio) and Creation (creatio) respectively. Creation and destruction are two sides of the same coin, and many religions and belief systems venerate both gods/concepts of creation and destruction. For example, part of what Yin & Yang represents is creation and destruction.

Notably, the "energy signature" of Caleb in CN is 新生 which is more directly translated as "rebirth". I think this is a notable nuance because then both A-01 and X-02 have had "rebirth" energy, which foreshadows their rebirth into the main timeline. I trust the localization in tha I agree that "Creation" is clearest in setting up these themes, but I think it's worth noting that it can also be understood as "rebirth", especially since MC specifically mentions feeling a "sense of rebirth" (iirc during her vision at the end, but I'll have to double check).

Primordial chaos

So, what is the shared source of creation and destruction? Primordial Chaos itself. Creation and Destruction cycle around each other, sustaining life as we know it, and whenever they are truly combined, all that can exist is the infinite void but also infinite potential. I'm pretty sure it's early in this myth that MC/A-02 mentions thinking that she and Caleb are perhaps destined to always orbit around each other--this is a reference to the cycle of creation/destruction, which is also explicitly mentioned in the excerpts from the Philosian history book.

And not only that, but when MC and Caleb have their shared fate of destruction at the end of the Loneroad Together kindled scene, we see a celestial phenomenon begin at their location--something akin to a star exploding. But then MC has a vision right after of new stars being born, and a voice saying "let's go home". So, we see that when Creation and Destruction are united, the world ceases to exist--but the cycle still continues and the world is reborn from the chaos/void again.

It's subtle, but I think this supports the idea that the writers are setting us up to see Philos and Earth as a time loop. By having the events of Philos be in the "future" but also happen "before" the main timeline, you set up the idea of a loop/ouroborus. Caleb/X-02 "remembers" earth but is also heading to earth. The main story also has specific mentions of the Traceback II being caught in an "endless loop" as it attempts to get to Earth.

Power exchange

What I also think is so beautiful about this story is that both MC and Caleb here are vessels for that power. Either can hold the power of creation or destruction--it's not specifically gendered. Though Caleb ends up carrying the more "taboo" power of destruction, he started with the power of creation, and it's specifically because he had that creative, compassionate power that he decided to take on MC's fate of carrying the power of destruction.

We're in this together

On a very personal level, I love that this iteration of MC refuses to let him die by himself. She understands that their fates and their powers are fundamentally interconnected. It's absolutely no criticism of the story, but both of Zayne's myths and Xavier's Shooting Star myth have this theme of the LI abandoning/leaving MC in order to save her, and ugh, it kills me. (They made me cry, they're such good stories, but whyyyyyy) So I loved that MC here was like "absolutely not, what kind of life will I have if I lose my only friend?"

Comparing to other myths

Overall, I think this myth was exactly what we saw on the wrapper. Especially with one of the Kindled moments being pretty clearly the end of the story and them dying together (I say this as someone who's very familiar with the tropes here, not that it should have been obvious to everyone) I got the setup and the arc that I'd expect.

It's an interesting contrast to the other myths, which I felt like kept me guessing more. It may just be the bias of tropes I'm familiar with, or that they kept the story more straightforward here (but it's still very impactful, don't get me wrong).

Notably, we now also have both Sylus's and Caleb's myths seeming to depict Philos's end-of-days, which hints at parallel timelines and perhaps that the 6th LI's Philos myth will also be apocalyptic.

What's in a name?

I immediatley had the sense that something was getting lost in translation when MC names Caleb in the first part of the myth. In EN, they decided to have her basically come up with an anagram that took me like, waaaay too long to figure out: "Calming, encouraging, bright... Caleb".

In CN she just says the name, 夏以書, Xia Yishu. (In simplified CN it's 以昼, Yizhou, per the wiki.) Notably, 夏 (Xia) is the character for the adjective form of summer (!!!) which relates to that being such a key theme for them.

以昼, the simplified CN name, translates as "daytime", literally "by day". (書 can also mean "day" but it has more alternate translations so the machine translation struggles with it)

So, as she stands out in the daytime summer sun for the first time, she names him, "Summer Day" 🥹 Just.... MY HEART.

Brother, where art thou

Saving the best for last--when I first finished the myth, I was surprised there weren't any brother/sibling references. Then I went "hmmm I bet there" and sure enough, here's how Caleb introduces himself to MC the very first time he talks to her:

CN: 我是X-02,你的哥哥。 MTL: I am X-02, your brother.

哥哥 of course being gēgē, i.e. "older brother".

When they're talking about why he wants to take her places, he says this:

CN: 哥哥就是要帶妹妹去她想去的所有地方。

MTL: The brother wants to take his sister to all the places she wants to go.

妹妹 being mèimei, i.e. "younger sister"

Notably, the CN also mentions the AI can only "strip keywords" it knows about--the EN is a little more vague, I think Caleb says it can only "erase memories" it knows about. So, the CN sets it up more clearly that the AI system gives her the two keywords to erase. And those are X-02 and... you guessed it... gege. Brother.

So towards the end when in EN he asks "what does 'friend' mean to you?" yeah, he's asking "what does 'brother' mean to you" 🥺

What I especially like about the brother/sister titles in this myth is that they're clearly symbolic--they're from the 'same source' but they weren't raised as 'siblings' in any meaningful way. (neither of them really had a childhood to speak of.) There's instead this more interesting question of, "with this intensity of love/bond, are we family? what does that mean to us?" and that's a theme that runs throughout their relationship. Notably, I'm of the opinion that couple is a family--so I love the way this theme explores naivety, love, devotion, etc.

Final thoughts (for now)

I'll be eagerly awaiting Farewell Dreamscape as we progress through the event, and will probably have more thoughts when that's out!

For now, I'm looking forward to diving deep into Homecoming Wings as I add it to the lore resource and looking for all the connections there.

Until then...

...Let's go home. 💫💕

[william-byers-1971]

Loki(s) do 'believe' in Love | Courtesy of Mobius

It is through Mobius that Loki begins to experience love not as manipulation or illusion, but as a mutual and grounding force.

In contrast, Sylvie's conception of love remains clouded by deep-seated mistrust. Her inability to establish or accept mutual trust inhibits her capacity to perceive love as 'REAL'

“Drink” often acts as a subtle metaphor or stand-in for Mobius in the show.

Love is an 'imaginary' dagger

Loki now knows that even the most absurd or "imaginary" sounding ideas can be true, a lesson he owes to Mobius.

Mobius: It's real because I believe it's real

That’s why he fundamentally disagrees with her. Sylvie obviously misses the point, who struggles with trust, which is the very foundation of love.

and Loki knows it’s pointless trying to convince her:

Loki: Doesn't make sense, does it. I thought I had something there.

"Door Opens" opening doors, is a metaphor for "coming out" 🚶‍♂️🚪🏳️‍🌈👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨 [In cinema and literature, the act of opening a door often represents a character embracing their queerness and stepping into authenticity]

Right after a few "drinks" Loki slips back into his TVA uniform, the clothes that make him feel closest to Mobius, he sings an Asgardian "drinking" song (Jeg Saler Min Ganger), drawing him closer to the feeling of home. In that moment, he’s his truest self, stepped into his most authentic "identity" ,As Loki attempts to answer what 'Love' means to him, a door opens. If that’s not a metaphor, I don’t know what is.

(Make no mistake, Lokius isn’t just fan speculation, it’s deeply coded into the show. The narrative is layered with canon metaphors and subtexts that all point toward one thing: a carefully concealed love story between Loki and Mobius)

But when Mobius sees Loki with Sylvie, It breaks "His REAL-ity" he had come to trust.

Sylvie gets it, in the end.

We don’t know exactly what was said between Sylvie and Mobius in Skinny’s Pizza car

which led her to believe this.....

but whatever it was, convinced her that Mobius truly cares for Loki. That maybe this isn’t just some fleeting connection, but something REAL.

So, she begins her own journey, in search of a Mobius of her own, because now she knows, Mobius(es) are the kind who love "Broken things"

Mobius left a lasting impression on all Loki(s). One charming analyst with a jet ski dream. A literal beam of sunshine.

Even in his most unconventional form, Loki recognizes Mobius as someone worth believing in.. fact that even Gator Loki looks at Mobius with such calm awe...Pure respect in those tiny reptilian eyes.

[ozoraslegend]

Introverts, extroverts and MBTI

In some ways, it is so easy and convenient to put a character in tropes, as it will make you have a quick way to compare, introduce or criticize them… And it is one of the things I don't like. The 9 protagonists are the one being affected the worst by these kind of archetypes and tropes. But like I say, it does be convenient.

So, this post is about whether they are introverts or extroverts, and what is their personality in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Remember this is headcanon.

First, about introverts, extroverts and Myers-Brigges Type Indicator. "Extroversion tends to be manifested in outgoing, talkative, energetic behavior, whereas introversion is manifested in more reflective and reserved behavior.", which is not a really correct definition. So to identify, I will use seven criterias for introverts vs extroverts. 1) Seek less stimulation vs Seek greater stimulation

2) Recharge, reflect in quiet vs Energize around people

3) Think before speaking vs Think out loud

4) Value 1:1 friendships vs Large social network

5) Favor independence vs Thrive in teams, crowds

6) Avoid center of attention vs Enjoy center of attention

7) Value deep experience vs Value broad experience Notice: Introvert is NOT shyness or social anxiety disorder.

Next, MBTI. It is more of an entertaining thing than an effective tool in psychologic, so just don't consider this indicator as something 100% correct and scientific. Don't hear the claim of MBTI is a scientific method using in psychology, no, it's not.

Yagami Taichi

Let's start with the original one. As the symbol of Digimon, his personality is especially easy to misread! And I don't consider my read of him is headcanon, so just read this for fun!

1) Seek less stimulation vs Seek greater stimulation

"Seek less stimulation". Why? He seems hothead. The keyword is "seem". Adventure tends to go against tropes although they look really fitted in them. Taichi, somehow, is a kind of teasing, and comfortable one. You can easily see this in 02, but in Adventure, you also can get how he is really not too seek of stimulation. If others are safe, he is really not fond of doing things.

2) Recharge, reflect in quiet vs Energize around people

"Recharge, reflect in quiet"

He brings a really excited, charmed atmosphere; but he doesn't get much stimulation from it. Do you see Taichi invites all others to his home like the way the 02 kids do? Not while. He LIKES spending time with his friends: it's just sometimes he wanted to take off his responsibility and relax with his family.

3) Think before speaking vs Think out loud

It's a bit 50/50 for this. He does plan everything, it's just that Taichi thinks everything will be find, and so he misjudges, and misjudges badly. He doesn't think before speaking or think out loud, so this is a draw.

4) Value 1:1 friendships vs Large social network

"Large social network"

I mean, this is a bit obvious. Adventure group is not close as the 02 group, but they are really friends. And you can see how the group just... departs when Taichi isn't there. He is the anchor for all of them, and really value all his friends, Chosen Children or just normal guys in his soccer team.

5) Favor independence vs Thrive in teams, crowds

"Thrive in teams, crowds"

Taichi has very, very good leadership skills. Although it's a bit because of situation in Adventure for why he is the leader, but it's clearly he showed how he is good in a team.

6) Avoid center of attention vs Enjoy center of attention

7) Value deep experience vs Value broad experience

50/50 for both. I don't think he is any of these, but a mix of them.

And... we get 3.5/7. A good number, with me. He is not really clear, and so we can interpret him as introvert or extrovert.

Now for MBTI.

It's both Introversion (I) and Extroversion (E). (Interesting facts: Both Yagamis are fitted for I and E, surprisingly.)

Taichi focuses on the reality of how things are, prefers ideas that have practical applications, likes to describe things in a specific, literal way... three checks for S (Sensing). But he also notices the big picture, sees how everything connects... N(Intuition).

But I'm more leaning on S here.

Thinking vs Feeling... Personally I think Taichi is kind of indifference, not because he doesn't care, but because he thinks they can get over it. He is also really stubborn and finding out flaws to win arguments about him, somehow logical and level-headed. I will put him in Thinking over Feeling, so Thinking (T).

Prefer to leave options opened, see flexibly, make things up as he goes (that's why he seems impulsive, he thinks but less than enough), enjoy surprise... All checks for Perceiving (P) over Judging.

So, we get either ISTP (The Crafter/Virtuoso) or ESTP (The Persuader/Entrepreneur).

...Eh? Like I said, MBTI is not a good system. And Taichi is a complex character, so both labels sound wrong.

So let's read the definition. I will bold what sounds wrong.

ISTP: Action-oriented, logical, analytical, spontaneous, reserved, independent. Enjoy adventure, skilled at understanding how mechanical things work.

ESTP: Outgoing, realistic, action-oriented, curious, versatile, spontaneous. Pragmatic problem solver and skillful negotiators.

That's why I don't choose I or E, but both. They complete each other. (If you ask about "skillful negotiators", remember what Taichi would become in the 02 epilogue.)

So it's ISTP/ESTP for Yagami Taichi.

Motomiya Daisuke

He should be easy, right? Just a lesser copy version of Taichi, and Takeru is the better leader... Sometimes a part of fandom can be annoying. Daisuke is a straightforward one, but he is complexed, just like his senpai.

1) Seek less stimulation vs Seek greater stimulation

"Seek greater stimulation". It's not that he is a glory hound, or an impulsive one. It's just that Daisuke wants others' affirmation and recognition. Before meeting the 02 cast, in the outer canon sources, he says that he has many friends, but hasn't had any close friends.

2) Recharge, reflect in quiet vs Energize around people

"Energize around people"

I mean, 02 is a season about how social friends can improve each other. It is easy to see how Daisuke is happy when spending time with his friends and senpai.

3) Think before speaking vs Think out loud

"Think out loud"

Daisuke is quite easy to read: he is really straightforward and simpleminded, although in a different way to typical "dumb boy" tropes. Actually, you can read his surface emotion: not his true feeling. But I lean on this. To be honest, self-interpret will be more efficient for you to understand him.

4) Value 1:1 friendships vs Large social network

"Large social network"

I mean, this is actually obvious. You can see how the 02 kids just go out and have fun, being truely close social friends.

5) Favor independence vs Thrive in teams, crowds

"Thrive in teams, crowds"

Self-explain.

6) Avoid center of attention vs Enjoy center of attention

50/50. He doesn't really enjoy when others all focus on him, but he also wants others to be close with him and just recognize him as who he is.

7) Value deep experience vs Value broad experience

50/50 for both. Like Taichi, I don't think he is any of these, but a mix of them.

And... we get 6/7 for extrovert.

MBTI. Now I feel a (slight) headache.

Extrovert, like I just present.

Daisuke is the type of person who just thinks of things like what he senses, pay attention to details. He is also kind of practical, and describe things in a literal way (opposite to how Takeru just has a (^^) face.)

How about Intuition? He sounds so, right? But MBTI is not meant to understand in a literal way. "Imagine the possibilities of how thing could be, notice the big picture, see how everything connects, like to describe things in a figurative, poetic way." All these signals of Intuition clearly aren't shown in Daisuke. The only one fits is to enjoy ideas and concepts for their own sake.

So, I lean more on Sensing (S).

It's easy to put him in Feeling (F): Daisuke just put his heart outside. He really cares about how his actions will affects others, is ready to forgive Ken, creates a harmonic force to his group, like to please others and point out the best in people, be a warm and empathetic person.

Now, the difficult part: Judging vs Perceiving. Shouldn't understand Judging in literal way, though.

Prefer to have his senpai create a suitable plan and respect them, you may don't think it's Judging behavior, but it is. Even I was surprised when finding out it.

But Daisuke also likes to improvise and makes things up as he goes, and his personality just suggest he should be in Perceiving.

Actually, I will get both.

So, we get ESFJ(The Caregiver/Consul)/ESFP(The Performer/Entertainer). Both sounds a bit weird, you know?

Like previous times, I will bold what sounds wrong.

ESFJ: Friendly, outgoing, reliable, conscientious, organized, practical. Seeks to be helpful and please others, enjoy being active and productive.

ESFP: Playful, enthusiastic, friendly, spontaneous, tactful, flexible. Have strong common sense, enjoy helping people in tangible ways.

(The main reason of why I add Judging is just for "Seeks to be helpful and please others". It's just so specific of Daisuke that I can't help but use it.)

So, ESFJ/ESFP for Motomiya Daisuke.

Like I say, this is just headcanon. You can interprete whatever you want. I will just write about Taichi and Daisuke for today. Will post about others later.

(And don't tell me about why is using MBTI for if I just don't choose only one, if you do, go out.)

Thanks of @guardiandua91 for inspiring me to do this! Have a good day, everyone!

[charrytree]

I’ve been thinking about it but I really do appreciate Megan’s subplot in In Plain Sight (02 x 08). That’s the episode in which an agent dies under Megan’s command during a lab raid. Notably, this is the first time an agent has died under her command and everyone is worried as to how Megan will take it. Though she insists that she’s fine, Don, Larry, and even Charlie insist otherwise and privately holds the belief that she’s merely trying to “stay strong” and continue with work.

Throughout the episode, I was dreading the moment when Megan would break down and cry and all the boys’ beliefs would be validated. Yet, that didn’t happen. Nothing in the episode indicates that Megan is hiding her “real” emotional state by putting up a brave front. In fact, the episode seemingly goes out of its way to invalidate Don’s, Larry’s, and Charlie’s beliefs through the Charlie’s own reaction to the case.

Charlie gets heavily emotionally invested —something that’ll become a regular pattern— to the point it worries Alan, his father, and yet no one checks up on him. Despite clearly being upset, clearly needing a shoulder or comfort, Charlie is… uncomfortably left to his own mental state. In the end, it’s Megan (who had been receiving unneeded concern specifically because she is a woman) who ends up reaching out and actually talking to Charlie.

It would’ve been easier to make Megan break down at the death on her command but through that subversion, Megan not only becomes a stronger character for it but also gives the episode space to establish a better understanding of another character, Charlie, in comparison. And that is well and truly appreciated by me.

[tmagpposting]

Alice’s Attitude

and why I don’t think it’s going to save her.

I haven’t seen a lot of people talking about the implication of Alice's attitude towards the incidents and horror elements so far, so I’m going to. Someone else may have already made a post about this, but I haven’t found anything yet, and I couldn’t find a way to get this out of my mind without writing it down. Naturally, I’m also going to inflict this long-winded and potentially needless analysis on all of you, since I spent 2 hours typing it out (sorry in advance). TW for blatant overuse of parentheticals and politics towards the end. This draws on content from TMAGP episodes 1-3 and TMA overall, particularly the series finale.

I feel like a lot of us going into TMAGP and having listened to TMA already were probably pleasantly surprised by Alice’s attitude of “The Horrors? Just say no!” since a lot of TMA revolved around the idea that curiosity and investigation of the fears usually doomed people to be consumed by one of them, as we saw with a lot of the Archive staff, particularly Jon. I certainly was. Though her ideas about how to deal with the incident reports are definitely somewhat callous, in the context of TMA, they feel very pragmatic, and I found myself thinking, “finally, a character who knows what genre she’s in and refuses to surrender to it.” I’ve been seeing a couple people agree with this, and say that her approach might even help her stay afloat when things start to escalate as the conflicts of TMAGP develop in the coming episodes. I thought that too, at least for a while. 

After thinking about it for several days, I don’t think this is the case. Given TMA’s themes and propensity for tragedy, and Jonny’s approach to tackling social issues, I don’t think Alice’s apathy is going to save her. In fact, I think it’s potentially going to be the character flaw that will doom her in the first place.

1. Alice already cares (not about the horrors, but about people)

To start with, I’d like to point out that Alice will only be able to maintain her apathy to a limited extent, and when people she cares about start being harmed, she is going to get involved. In fact, we can already see this happening. Ep 3 notably starts and ends with Alice making a plan to get Central IT involved in looking into their computers, when she tries to mention them to Colin in the first scene, and when she asks Sam to call them on her behalf in the final scene. I’d argue that the issue comes up because she’s concerned about Colin more than fixing the OIAR’s computers. She tells Sam it’s because Colin may not be able to handle FR3-D1 as well as he thinks he can since he’s been working on it forever with very little positive progress, but given the additional context of the starting scene, I think it’s reasonable to assume she also wants to meddle for Colin’s sake. In the first scene of ep 3, she seemingly talks more softly/slowly than usual (to me, it sounds like she’s trying to be soothing when compared to how she normally talks, even outside of the times she’s actually soothing FR3-D1), she doesn’t make too many digs at Colin as he sounds increasingly stressed, and she asks gently and subtly about calling Central IT for help when she is generally pretty direct when she seriously wants something (like all the times she repeatedly shuts down Sam’s questions because she wants him to stay out of danger). It sounds like she’s trying to slip it in as a half-joke, but Colin treats it as a genuine suggestion when he usually either brushes off her jokes or plays into them instead, so I think it was her actual intent to involve Central IT even at that point. Furthermore, Gwen tells Sam something along the lines of “Alice is the only one [Colin] tolerates” in a previous episode, they have good banter throughout so far, and Colin’s explosive reaction to Sam mentioning the app completely deflates when he learns it was Alice’s idea. All of this seemingly demonstrates a bond that goes pretty far beyond what I’d think of as a basic work relationship with no actual friendship involved. Colin is already pretty deep into investigating FR3-D1 to the point that it’s probably going to be detrimental for him based on him threatening/ranting at the computers in the first episode, and Alice is already trying to intervene on his behalf. Simply put, she is doing a pretty bad job of pretending not to care and staying out of it so far, and we’re only 3 episodes in.

With that in mind, I don’t even think Colin will be the primary reason she’ll get involved as the series goes on, and I actually think Sam is being set up to be the one to draw her into much of the conflict. She cares enough about Sam to find him a job when he’s having a rough time, based on their conversation in the bar, and she tells him not to care about the incidents precisely because she cares about him, and doesn’t want him to get sucked in and hurt by them. With Sam’s propensity for curiosity established and likely being set up to be one of his fatal flaws, Alice will probably get drawn into the conflict whether she likes it or not if/when Sam goes digging and actually stumbles on something dangerous later on. As a side note, I really do think Sam’s curiosity is being set up to be something big here, since he repeatedly wants to look into the Magnus Institute and says it’s a “blast from the past,” he wonders about how the code system works and how it could be improved, and he’s generally shown to ask a lot of questions about the OIAR, Gwen’s backstory, etc. He asks about things more often than I think he would if his questions were purely an expositional device for the audience and not actual characterization (I could make a post just about this, but I think other people have definitely already done that). Finally, our very first introduction to Alice as a character in TMAGP shows her trying and failing to be glib and uncaring about Teddy leaving, where she jokes with him casually before admitting, sincerely and somewhat hesitantly, “I’m gonna miss you.” If her failing to not care about something in the opening scene of the entire series isn’t going to turn out to be important, if not Jonny Sims style foreshadowing of some kind, I’ll eat my hat.

2. Apathy kind of sucks, actually (thematically and otherwise)

Alice being saved by her refusal to care, assuming she manages to maintain it, feels too much like an easy out for the kinds of stories TMA was trying to tell, and clashes with its sensibilities in my opinion. A lot of people fall into the trap of nihilistic apathy when thinking about the state of the world right now, and TMA even acknowledged this in the series with the Extinction beginning to emerge as a new entity/fear. Between worsening climate change, the gradual rise of bigotry and the increasing trend toward fascism in the western world (especially america, it sucks here), escalating international conflict, poverty and the worsening cost/standard of living, like the fact that a majority of people my age will probably never own a house and our college debt is going to eat us alive, etc., it feels like we’re all circling the drain and no one with the power to help is interested in doing anything other than making it worse to make themselves money. A lot of people think the only way to cope with that is to decide to not give a shit, which is a pretty natural response to being constantly confronted with worse and worse news every year that shows no sign of stopping. This has also naturally inspired a lot of doomerism and a rise in insincerity/irony poisoning and cynicism in popular culture that’s really hard to escape even if you avoid the news entirely.

However, the idea that not giving a shit about the problems in the world can somehow spare you from them is a) ludicrous, since they won’t go away if you decide to ignore them (a majority of the TMA statement givers didn’t previously know or care about the fears, and they got screwed over regardless), and b) definitely not supported by TMA’s cannon or themes. Surrendering to the idea of your own helplessness is precisely what TMA ends by specifically not doing. Jon sunk into a hopeless state of mind throughout S5, with the culmination of this process being his proposal to let the world end and allow the End to consume everything, including the rest of the fears. It wasn’t necessarily that Jon didn’t care or was apathetic, especially since one of his primary motivation was to avoid inflicting the fears on another universe, rather, he didn’t think anything could be done to stop the fears from destroying his world or whatever world they ended up in, which is the same deterministic mindset that Alice’s style of apathy stems from (“I can’t change or fix it, so I don’t care”). The other characters refusing this course of action and banishing the fears is what ultimately spares TMA’s universe from the sort of extinction it would’ve had if they’d accepted that it was hopeless and Jon had gone through with what he wanted. TMA ends with the central takeaway that you can’t give in to the idea you won’t be able to fix things because then you won’t try, and shows the characters subverting their helplessness and actually solving the problem of the fears by getting rid of it at the source (the ethics of sending the fears somewhere else are definitely debatable, but that’s a totally different post). The idea that Alice could be saved from the consequences of the problems in TMAGP’s world by choosing not to care flies in the face of the conclusion to the previous series. Alice’s refusal to care won’t save her from whatever TMAGP has in store, and judging by the events of TMA, fatalism and apathy might even seal her fate. 

Some of these points of evidence might be a little bit basic “water is wet” types of statements and I probably could’ve explained this in half the time, but I really do think that Alice’s apathy isn’t going to turn out to be very useful to her and I wanted to include everything I could think of that led me to believe that.

TLDR, Alice is just as screwed as the rest of the cast, if not more so, and her attitude is not going to get her out of it.

[nukitan]

Okay so as much as I dislike conflating Pokémon and Digimon, (they’re two shows that just so happen to be in the same genre and I think the comparisons should stop there. The bad faith ones anyway), how great the new Pokémon anime is has made me think about something.

Basically, I feel like Horizons has a lot of elements that I would love to see in a modern season of Digimon and I think the Digimon anime could take a page from their playbook. Which is funny since up until now I’ve always said the reverse.

Full rant bellow the cut to spare your time lines if you don’t want to read my rambles.

I split them into section going into Digimon first and then Pokémon if you want to skip around and don’t care about the other franchise. BUT, I will say that the point of this essay is that Pokémon Horizons is good, the first three seasons of Digimon are good and if you like one you should watch the other.

Anyway.

First I’m going to go into my history with Digimon and what I liked about the classic seasons and what I don’t like so much about the newer ones.

Basically, I love Digimon. Been hyper fixating on it off and on for twenty+ years. I’ve seen every season, subbed and dubbed multiple times, I’ve played a good chunk of the games, I play the TCG, ect.

Something that drew me to the Digimon anime over AniPoke, was the characters and the plot. In the early seasons Digimon tackled lots of difficult issues like divorce, adoption, death, loss, depression, among other things. But still kept a light hearted, feel good air. The characters felt deep and multi-faceted (At least in the sub), and I dare say are better written than some characters from some adult oriented anime out there. And they had cute monsters that evolved into bigger monsters and fought baddie monsters, what wasn’t there to love? The first three or so seasons did a fantastic job juggling characters, plot, cool creature fights, and cute and funny moments between the members of the cast. It never really felt like a commercial compared to contemporaries. It felt like the writers were creating something with soul, it was a story first and ad second. It felt like it had love.

Adventure, 02, and Tamers are my favorites. Bellow are some characters and their arcs I really enjoyed from those seasons, skip if don’t want spoilers.

I love Taichi’s arc of being reckless, and being one track minded to the point where he put all his friends in harms way and Yamato tries to act like this calm and cool lancer type but he’s actually the group heart and sensitive the way they bounce off each other and have conflicts throughout the series is just fantastic.

Ken in 02 and his whole arc of getting over the death of his brother and accepting the consequences of his actions as the Digimon Kaiser. And the way he slowly warms up to the group is so cute. I legit cried when I watched some of his episodes post kaiser as an adult.

Tamers as a whole is an extensional horror trip. Juri’s whole thing with her depression after the death of Leomon, how it related back to her trauma after losing her mom when she was younger, and the way the D-Reaper took advantage of that- I honestly don’t know how this was slipped into a kids show from the early 2000s.

A lot of these shows that started in the 90s and early 2000s were pledged with the “Glorified 20-25 minute toy ad” problem, and Digimon didn’t really seem to have that issue to me. It felt like the creators were putting the story and characters first, and an ad second or third.

The early seasons of Digimon felt like a celebration of childhood and was something that could be enjoyable to kids of all ages and adults alike. I don’t at all get that feeling that I’m watching a baby show when I watch early Digimon. It presents things in simple terms that kids could understand without talking down to its audience. It’s great.

And then the later seasons happened and Digimon forgot what made it great and lost its soul…

Xros wars was where the ball really seemed to drop in my opinion. Sure it still had the epic Kaiju fights but… that’s about it. Gone were the intense character moments and interesting plots. All we had was the special little marry sue of a boy Taiki who could do nothing wrong besides not “TURNING HIS BACK ON SOMEONE uwu”. And there was no overcoming adversity like in the earlier seasons, Taiki would just epically throw his Xros loader into the air and scream away his problems with a “DIGi-XROS!” (Sorry Taiki fans I can’t conceal my venom for this man)

And the monsters were just disappointing too. Like they were clunky and just looked like… toys.

It felt like Digimon had lost what made it tick and started to more closely resemble what I didn’t like about AniPoke, a toy commercial with a sanitized feel.

This continued for the next couple of seasons, only really picking up again in Appmon, but while Appmon is good and had it’s moments (I love the story with Yujin. He and Haru are totally roommates, cousins even), it still doesn’t compare to the heart the first three to five seasons had, imo.

Tri felt like a soulless nostalgia cash grab. Last Kizuna was good, it gave me hope for the anime again just to crush it all away with The Beginning.

I won’t get started on Adventure 2020 or we’ll be here all day. Needless to say it spat in the face of the show it was paying homage to.

Ghost Game got my hopes up, but then the last episode just took a dump on the rest of the show. It was fun, Kiyoshiro and Jellymon specifically were the stars of the show and GulusGammamon was interesting… until he wasn’t. It was fun, had a lot of potential with its horror feel, and was the closest to classic Digimon the modern seasons had been in awhile… at first anyway. It really shat the bed. And my problem with it don’t really relate to it being episodic in nature or anything, that can be done well. The characters just didn’t feel consistent (Especially Ruli) and it didn’t deliver on any of the plot intrigue it tried to stir up.

BUT! Ghost Game at least had… a little bit of heart. It felt like the creators knew their Digimon lore and did a fantastic job incorporating it into the monster of the week. I could really feel the love there.

Also on a side note, I am not just the Digimon equivalent to Gen-Oner, hating on things that are new and fetishizing the old. In fact, before I rewatched all of the seasons around 2020, I didn’t really care for the Adventure or Tamers. But my opinions did a total flip watching everything as an adult.

So, for a quick collection of thoughts before we move on to Pokémon:

What I like in a Digimon season:

1. Good characters with arcs that tackle bigger issues in a way kids can still understand and relate to without feel like they’re being talked down to.

2. Cute moments between members of the cast and their creatures.

3. Fights that feel like they mean something and aren’t just there for cool flashy effects.

4. A feeling of love and care for the franchise that goes beyond just trying to sell me toys and games.

Things I don’t like:

-OP mcs that solve every problem with the gimmick of the given seasons

-Flat, inconsistent characters that don’t feel like they have any agency or reason for doing what they’re doing besides that fact that they do indeed have Digimon.

-Pointless fights that are just there for no other reason than just to show a cool fight

-“BUY ALL OUR GAMES AND TOYS AT YOUR LOCAL HOBBY SHOP”

Okay now Pokémon.

Just like with Digimon here’s a little background with my history with the Pokémon anime

I’ve watched the original Pokémon anime up to Diamond and Pearl as a kid and I watched some of SM and most of Journey’s as an adult, but I’ve never really been big on anipoke.

Like at best it just felt like a cute show I could turn my brain off for and just vibe.

At worst it felt like a hyper sanitized toy/game commercial (Not blaming it, that was the anime’s main purpose after all).

Out of curiosity, I watched the new series. As much as I liked Ash, I really felt like he overstayed his welcome and they should have gotten rid of him and moved on ages ago since it felt like by DP there was nothing interesting to do with the character. The Pokémon world is huge and intresting, there was so much they could have done but Ash kind of felt like he bogged it down and stunted the anime’s growth past a point.

So yeah,I got excited when they finally pulled the plug and focused on a new set of characters so I gave Horizons a watch.

And I love it! It’s got heart, characters with development, a little bit of plot, and it’s cute? Like I was dumbfounded by the fact that a Pokemon anime, that I previously wrote off as just being a glorified ad, could be so good???

And then after thinking about what I liked so much about it, that’s when the topic of this essay hit me: Horizons feels like it has everything I long for in a modern Digimon anime, almost as if they took a page out of classic Digimon’s book. Like I always heard throughout the years that “Digimon had the better anime Pokemon has the better games” But Horizons really turned that on its head.

Let’s revisit my criteria for what I liked about the classic Digimon seasons from the section above to show what I mean. (Light Spoilers for Horizons ahead, though I wont go into specifics)

1. Good characters with arcs that tackle bigger issues in a way kids can still understand and relate to without feel like they’re being talked down to.

Yep. Horizons has that. Like the early seasons of Digimon, Horizons doesn’t just use it’s human characters as a vehicle to show you all the monsters you could catch if you bought the next game from your local shop for the low low price of 60 USD, nope. There feels like theres care there.

While they aren’t fully developed yet, Liko and Dot especially show huge character growth in the first 50 episodes. They focus on their flaws and how the characters overcome them.

Liko is very indecisive at first. She’s socially awkward, she feels like shes just going with the flow, afraid to take that first step to find out what she really wants out of life. Then, she finally does, she makes the decision to follow Friede and the Rising Volttacklers to find her new horizons. It’s great. And she still has lots of growing she can do later both as a trainer and as a character. She’s fantastic for a lead.

I also like how they use Sprigatito’s evolution as stand in for Liko’s growth so far in the series. Early Digimon did that too with the Crests in Adventure and the Bio Merging in Tamers and I always really like monster partners evolving to reflect their human so much, it’s such a good narrative device!

Dot slowly being brought out of her shell by Liko and the others is just- chefs kiss. She goes from being a reclusive shut in to slowly taking interest in the things Liko and co are doing and develops meaningful relationships with them. Her care for her friends and want to be there for them makes her take the first step and is now traveling around Paldea with them! And they went about this in a very well paced way where she still isn’t just magically over all her awkwardness and shut in tendencies yet. She too still has so much room for interesting development later down the road.

The adult characters are interesting too, even though they haven’t really done much yet. They really perfected that found family group of misfits trope that I’m usually pretty sick of. I love them.

And Amethio and the other villains also feel like they’re more than just your cackling evil for evil sake type characters and I’m super excited to see what they do with them!

And as far as the tackling bigger issues point: Though its just conjecture and I might be over thinking things (Though others in the fandom have pointed this out too) there’s definitely the groundwork for it here.

Liko’s family is very hands off and distant. Liko goes away to boarding school at the start of the series, her parents work, and her grandma is a vagabond traveling the world and doesn’t often stay in one place for long.

Liko lacks solid connections and foundation in her life due to her family being so closed off emotionally, which would explains her going with the flow and being unsure of what she really wants to do. She’s lost with no guidance. And it’s not like her family doesn’t love each other, no. They just don’t want to express their feelings for fear of it bogging each other down. They want Liko to be free to do what her heart tells her, but they’re so worried about talking things out that they don’t realize how that freedom has hurt Liko and made her into an anxious mess. (They even kind of hint at this in the second opening)

But yeah, like others have said, I’m not sure if this is on purpose or if they were trying to write Liko’s family to be full of strong women and just kind of accidentally fell into making them all feel too independent and distant from one another. And it would be really cool for the show to go into Liko’s home life more… but I’m not sure it would be on brand for Pokemon to talk about something so heavy. But fingers crossed!

2. Cute moments between members of the cast and their creatures.

Yep! Horizons has got plenty of it. Right now all of the main cast has two Pokemon each and they’re really taking the time to show off each Pokemon and give them a lot of wholesome moments together and with their trainers.

The human character interactions are great too! I really like the blossoming friendship between Liko and Dot (They could be roommates guys!) and the growing rivalry between Friede and Amethio! It’s great!

3. Fights that feel like they mean something and aren’t just there for cool flashy effects.

The fights in Horizons are so cool and well choreographed, but they aren’t just there to look pretty, not at all!

A lot of the fights that take place in the first two arcs are learning experiences for Liko, Roy, and Dot. They learn new strategies, their Pokemon learn new moves, and in the arc that’s airing at the time of writing, they’re learning how to terrestialize too. The fights don’t seem to happen without purpose and always seem like they either teach the characters a lesson about proper ways to be a trainer and even sometimes help them grow as characters too.

And theres even a healthy amount of losses and wins under the character’s belts and they drive home the lesson of “You learn more from a defeat”. I like how heavily they relied on the more experienced Friede at the beginning and they got frustrated from their losses and used it as fuel to want to learn to stand on their own two feet.

The fights are great and don’t just feel like a kid mashing two toys together like some series with battle elements can.

4. A feeling of love and care for the franchise that goes beyond just trying to sell me toys and games.

This is a little harder to explain and is more like a feel than anything. But I can definitely feel an air of care in Horizons that I don’t really see from shows that feel like twenty-three minute ads. The characters and story don’t just feel like they’re trying to sell me something.

While they’re definitely leaning heavy on the Paldea setting right now, it doesn’t feel like a straight adaption of the games. They don’t really do the “creature of the day” or “character of the day” type episodes like I remember seeing in past iterations of Anipoke. Horizons doesn’t have those moments that I feel like the character is looking right at me and saying “Buy Buy Buy”

And, at least so far, there seems to be a love for Pokemon with the way the reference Pokédex entries like with Hatenna being sensitive to strong emotions or what not.

Like I said, this is really more of a personal criteria and some people can be more sensitive to this kind of thing than others. The closest thing I can compare it to is like when you’re eating a meal a loved one made for you versus something you got at a diner or fast food restaurant. You don’t know how to put your finger on it but you can just taste the love… it’s like that with Horizons to me.

So yeah!

If you’ve read this far, thanks for listening to me rant! I’ll try to wrap it up here.

Basically I just really like Horizons. It gives me that same feel as when I was rewatching the classic Digimon seasons a view years ago… And like the way Horizons fixed all of the problems I had with Anipoke as a kid and as an adult is awesome, it really feels like Pokemon Company is making an effort to listen to criticism and better the series… I just really hope the Digimon anime can do the same.

Oh and all of this is just my opinion, if I said something that you don’t agree with about Digimon or Pokémon, I meant no offense and I’m happy to hear your opinions too!

I just want to close this by saying…

Fans of early Digimon, go watch Pokemon Horizons! You wont regret it!

Fans of Horizons go watch (the sub) of the first three or so seasons of Digimon! If you like Horizons and didn’t really click with Ash era Anipoke I think you’ll really have a good time, it’s so good!

I think both series could use more love, so go out there and give them both a watch!

Okay I’ll shut up now, thanks for reading!

[nightmareentertainment]

ken's whole story is built in [insecurity and loneliness] that funnels into [anger] which turns into [GRIEF guilt and even more anger] which makes him the prime suspect to be used but also makes him , like , fundamentally mentally weak , leads him down an even LONELIER path, leads him towards cruelty , and the turning point in his story is actually like. he describes it, verbally, as realizing in his moment of healing that his parents loved him. like going through life feeling completely abandoned by a better-than-you brother who was also suffering under their parents' negligence towards their kids' emotional stability, feeling abandoned by your parents, and then that brother dies and you are still left standing in his shadow, its just even bigger now, its full of grief, and youre full of grief, and you dont know what to do other than to just stare empty-eyed at his closed casket

and all you thought before was i hate you, i want you to dissapear and now you want to take it all back, because did i do this? did i wish this into existence? this isnt what i wanted. this isnt what i meant.i was nine years old and angry and sad and alone but i never wanted you to dissapear. not for real.and now your room is just your room, and you get an email, and someone wants to help you :-). except no he fuckign doesnt he just gives you a place to relinquish all that anger, and it builds, and youre still alone but youre convincing yourself now you have control over that. you step into your brothers shoes. youre better than him now. youre finally how tall he was when he died. your parents seem so happy to have their boy back. they dont realize they never got him; they just lost the kid they had left. you are a husk made from guilt and grief and you fill it with anger until its exploding from every part of you. you no longer know who you are, but the news decides youre ken ichijouji, boy genius and soccer star! so you go with that. eventually you find your way to your escape. a new world. and you get to decide who you are in this game; you get to pick your destiny, you get all the control. theres no consequences for not smiling at the camera, here. and youre alone, and the world is weak, and theres something itching in your mind; something telling you what to build and how to build it, and you never know your control isnt actually your own. you never get to know. you play the game how you want to. its your world. its not your parents, its not your brothers, its yours, this is yours and you are going to fucking rule it!!!!!

ken is very much like , hurt-people-hurt-people but the thing is that, in the real world hes trying very very hard to be NORMAL and NICE and GOOD even while hes bubbling with rage and hatred and wants to be left alone, he smiles for all the cameras everyone is putting in his face, taking his anger out in secret and only when nobody is watching, because hes aware of consequences but in the digital world there is no consequences. its a game, after all! then there's other players and at first it's kinda fun, having an enemy in your game, but then theyre not playing fair, then theyre in your way, its getting annoying, and its not fun anymore. and the worse you feel online, the worse you feel offline, and hes pissed, and everyone wants everything from him, and one day he throws it all down and decides fuck this and ken ichijouji runs away. the ichijouji family loses their second and final son. (this is their turning point, too. they realize maybe osamu was never happy, before he died. maybe they pushed ken into the same box. they bury their faces in their hands and just pray they havent completely lost their chance to try)

ken- the kaiser- is having a really Really Bad Fucking Time. hes not even having fun anymore he just wants to be in control of something, he wants the chance to be a winner, and theres other players and theyre in the way. and then. well, shit. and then they win. Doesn't that suck? It’s the first time you’ve failed at something in years. i like him. i like the digimon kaiser. thats just a little kid hes up playing games in this bitch. its shown he actually really, really loved and admired his brother, and i feel like this and his persona as the kaiser are involved. he literally resembles so much of his brother even in his persona as someone who rules the world isnt it crazy how you resemble your prodigy brother no matter where you go or what you do because without him there youre the only one who could possibly fill the space. ken is nobody, but everyone loved osamu. why not be osamu? even if you dont realize it!!!

thats all a big part in why he claims he doesnt know himself after it all goes down this kid has no clue who he is. only wormmon does. quite literally only wormmon knows who he is. who he was before it all went to shit. who he was while it happened. only wormmon was ever there for him. and he treated wormmon like shit, for so long. how do you ever forgive yourself for that? wormmon tells him he's kind. he really is. under all that anger and guilt and never ending sadness, hes kind and hes just lonely. and so ken turns his life around. IT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOBODYGETS IT NOBODY UNDERSTANDS HIM LIKEI DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HE HAS NEVER KNOWN ANYTHING BUT THE FACT THAT HE WILL ALWAYS EXIST IN HIS BROTHERS SHADOW SO HE GROWS INTO HIS BROTHERS SHADOW AND ITS ONLY WHEN HES TORN DOWN TO NOTHING, INTO A GUILT-SOAKED MESS , DOES HE STEP OUT OF IT. KINDNESS IS THE ONLY WAY OUT. HE SPENDS HIS TIME TRYING TO MAKE UP FOR WHAT HE DID AND HE ONLY HEALS ONCE HE REALIZES HIS PARENTS AND WORMMON LOVE HIM, ONCE HE HAS FRIENDS ALWAYS READY TO BE THERE, ONCE HE LEARNS TO, AT THE VERY END, BE KIND TO HIMSELF TOO, AND FACE OSAMU AND FORGIVE HIMSELF

[bagerfluff]

Episode Thirteen - ???

A series dissection of Digimon Adventure 02, a nerd talk for nerds.

SPOLER ALERT FOR DIGIMON ADVENTURE 02 EPISODE THIRTEEN

Part Two - Part Six - Part Ten

Part Three - Part Seven - Part Eleven

Part Four - Part Eight - Part Twelve

Part Five - Part Nine

This is part thirteen of the episode title dissection of Digimon Adventure 02. if you want to see part one click here. Part one has the rules and tells you about what this series is and what its doing. So read part one if you want to know but lets get right into this.

English Dub - His Master's Voice

Sub - The Call of Dagomon

Now, I don't like either of these, but why?

In this episode Hikari zones out a lot. Finder herself in a ocean when she is in class and seeing Digimon with red eyes. Soon, after a small fight with Takeru, Hikari transports to a weird now world.

This world is black and light, even the light tower shines dark light. Meanwhile Tailmon tells the others that Hikari has disappeared, causing Takeru to run out of the Computer lab.

Hikari walks around this dark beach and comes across a cave full of digimon, she doubts herself when they ask for help removing the dark rings on them but she try's.

Hikari is interrupted when a Airdramon appears out of no where and starts attacking her. Meanwhile Takeru, Tailmon, and Patamon are on a beach.

Takeru regrets leaving Hikari by herself. With regret, Takeru starts yelling out Hikari's name on the beach, with the help of Patamon and Tailmon they hear Hikari's voice and see a warp.

The three jump though it and find themselves in the dark world with Hikari. Takeru and Pegasusmon try to fight the Airdramon but fail, but when they destroy the dark tower Tailmon can digivovle to Angewomon.

With their help the Airdramon is defeated and the digimon that Hikari found are free. But, it was a trick, the digimon want Hikari to be their queen to fight their undersea master. (I know that's what they say in the dub but I am not telling you what they say in the sub, go find it yourself if you really want to know but I warned you).

They leave when Angewomon attack's them and Takeru takes Hikari back to the real world.

Now, this is a hard one. I kinda like and hate both titles. the english one, His Masters Voice, is a weird on. I assume the 'he' is referring to the digimon, but it's the digimon that summon Hikari, not their master.

They also call her to defeat their master, but the sub isn't much better. The Call of Dagomon. Dagomon is the name of the master, and you don't really know is name. You can guess seeing as you see a outline of them at the very end of the episode.

But I watch the dub first and only found out the name of that digimon when I watched Digimon Hunters, Dagomon appears in one episode of that series.

But Dagomon doesn't call Hikari in that one either, both titles really make no sense, it's not Dagomon that's calling Hikari to the dark world, it's his minions who want to overthrow him.

So I don't like either titles, but what do you think?

Tell me in the comments!

[spottys-rathole]

(all q!)

There's that scene where Baghera, Antoine, and Bad go adventuring out with their kids, and Bad leads the way trying his best to show them good dungeons with useful loot that aren't too hard

They cross a field running, jump into a speedboat and dash through until they spot a structure on the horizon. They loot it, rinse and repeat.

They just raided an outpost, Baghera has just stepped in and is trying to collect the bookshelves inside when she hears one of the eggs outside blowing into a horn, calling for attention. All the while Baghera is feeling overwhelmed. She explains out loud that she feels the others don't realize how poor she really is, how she's got nothing and how she's still discovering so many new biomes and new features that were added recently. She wants to take her time to check it all out properly, she wants to collect building blocks she likes for her house - because Baghera doesn't have a house yet.

This isn't the first time she brings it up on this evening. Since the first time she encountered BBH earlier that day, he has been slowly introducing her to the idea of building a house near him and Pierre. He said so himself to the eggs that he's trying to convince her to do so. At first he asked her if she had anywhere to live, then upon learning she's only got a hole dug on the flank of a hill so far, he told her they needed to get her a house. Then he showed her his place, welcomed her in and showed him everything that could peak her interest :

Here's BBH's storage room, Baghera can have free unlimited access to it. Here's a flower field surrounding the place, it's really pretty isn't it ? Here's the beach house Pierre built on the bank of this cool lake, look how gorgeous it is, she could build the same if she wanted to. Also don't fail to mention there's a nearby lavender field around, Baghera really likes purple right ? Surely she could enjoy the biome enough to decide to settle down over there.

And Baghera's immediate response is to use Pierre's waystone to teleport the gang to her actual place. Actually, she doesn't exactly teleport them to her place, she teleports them to Phil's place first, which is right across the river from where she lives. Because she doesn't have a waystone to herself, because again : She is poor.

She then proceeds to show them around her "house", which is a (yet to be) repurposed dungeon. It's empty so far. BBH notices and remembers it's a dungeon that he had already raided with Dapper a week ago before Baghera found it.

Baghera doesn't have much if anything at all. She started the afternoon with -37 coins and a gapple which she offered to Acau as a welcoming gift. Still she was so happy when she accidentaly discovered that dungeon and loved its aesthetic, even if the loot that was left inside was barely useful, but to her it was all she had.

Back to the pillager outpost, Antoine overhears Baghera mention how exhausted she is and how meeting everyone at spawn earlier has been really draining for her. That's why she usually prefers exploring alone because then she can do it at her own pace without feeling pressured, because what is of interest to her may not be for her adventuring partners.

Antoine immidiately tries to reassure her the best he can, tells her that she can take all her time and shouldn't hurry for them, that they will wait for her. Baghera apologizes. While BBH is wondering what they're doing, Dapper goes up the tower to check on them, Antoine asks them to wait for them as they are taking their time. Baghera apologizes. When alone with her again she explains that it bothers her to not be able to take breaks and go at her own pace, but she blames herself for it because she accepted to go exploring in group and obviously even if Antoine and Bad keep telling her that they understand and try to make her feel the most at ease, and giving her food and gear. Well anyone would still feel pressured because making the others wait all the time might become boring for the rest of the group whether they say they're okay with it or not. At some point Baghera explains to Bad that she isn't feeling so hot, when she turns around he is 30 ft further ; something caught his attention and he wanted to check it out briefly. She comes up to him again and tell him she needs to get sugar because she is feeling dizzy, she insists that they shouldn't wait for her. Once she comes back, she tells the group that she wants to part ways and go back to building her house. Right on queue, Bad reminds her that she is the most welcome if she wants to come live near his place. Baghera still doesn't explicitely agree nor disagree with the idea, she only says she wants to build because that's what she enjoys doing. Right after, the group catch her up on what they were doing while she was afk : They're about to go raid this very dangerous sky dungeon, and Bad invites Baghera to join them. She iterates that sadly she will not, but Bad who's attention was caught by Dapper, has already ran off to listen to his child. Pomme and Antoine tell her it's okay, but then Bad rushes back towards them to excitedly show them what cool shenanigan Dapper is up to. Baghera bids them goodbye and Bad seems both surprised and disappointed to hear she's leaving now. As she is walking away, Antoine once again whispers to Bad that she was feeling real tired to which the latest answers he completely understands.

It's not so relevant of a moment lore-wise, but I've still been thinking about it a lot because I'm usually really into these kinds of small interactions that are still loud because of everyone's points of views ? Baghera's been there for 3 days and she still hasn't properly brought up to anyone what happened to her during Purgatory - she is not doing fine (I'm not going to go in depth because I'd have to slap a big ol trigger warning but her reaction to reading Pomme's and Richas' signs kicked me in the guts with the strenght of a 3T truck). And meanwhile BBH is this close to kick the bucket too and there's all his motivations that push him to surround himself with people when he would previously be paranoid about inviting anyone to his old base (and none of the french-speakers knew back then). Antoine is just vibing good for him (this was his last qsmp stream too lmao pretend i'm not crying rn /hj)

But it's one of those cases where everything was set up perfectly for it (Pomme was literally jumping with excitement at the idea of two more of her parents getting to live near) but it simply wasn't meant to happen -at least not that day-

[seventeenlovesthree]

Hikari's stance on the other Chosen Children

... is, in most cases, even more difficult to tell than it's the case with her brother, but since she's won the poll alongside Koushirou, let's try this!

Taichi

It shouldn't come as a surprise that we get most insight into how she feels about her brother throughout the entirety of the series. Similarly to how he idealized her, she was also very prone to putting him on a pedestal (and probably still does to a degree). And it's understandable, since he used to take care of her when they were toddlers, (over)protected and shielded her from harm while she had developed a complex of not wanting to burden anyone with her own troubles (and weaker constitution). Especially not Taichi, whom she relied and hyperfocused on (to the point of almost destroying the Digital World) a lot. As she grows older, however, it becomes apparent that she tries to distinguish herself from outside influences - such as getting possessed by Homeostasis and thinking that she has to depend on Taichi for support. Of course she will always love and adore him most out of (literally) everyone, but it's good to see her developing more casual behaviours with him. Plus, since she deduces his moods so often, she also seems to have developed a habit of wanting to protect, guide and nudge him as his own issues seem to bubble to the surface more with age. [How I see their general dynamic]

Yamato

This is a tough one, as these two rarely interact and we don't really hear how she feels or thinks about Yamato. Judging by their interaction patterns, I would assume this to be a projective relationship - she may be able to see his similarities to Taichi more than their differences and is thus likely to perceive him as a brotherly figure as well.

Sora

Considering that Sora is one of Taichi's oldest friends, at least the novel and PSP game heavily imply that Hikari had known her prior to becoming Chosen Children. However, similarly to Yamato, due to their lack of interactions, we don't really know how deep their bond goes; Sora (alongside Takeru) was the one who took Hikari under her wing while she was sick in the Digital World and it may be assumed that Hikari looks up to her at least a little bit - but aside from them comfortably joking in 02, there isn't much in the text. [How I see their ship compatibility]

Koushirou

Just like with Sora, we'd have to look at the PSP game to get a glimpse of how Hikari may feel about Koushirou - because even though, once again, we have a situation where she should be somewhat familiar with one of Taichi's closest friends, the series doesn't dwell on it. 02 provides several instances where she smiles at his antics - or, like in the case above, is somewhat embarrassed by them. Which is actually a positive thing, seeing how she's able to express her true emotions towards him. The PSP game implies that she may relate to him in a few aspects despite their contrasts - and that she seems very giddy to talk to him about it. [How I see their ship compatibility]

Mimi

Similar to her interactions with Yamato, Hikari doesn't get many opportunities to talk to Mimi; in Tri, she mainly tags along while Mimi focuses on (teasing) Sora. However, considering that they seem to stay in touch in 02, are familiar with each other's career paths and team up to get Sora to come out of her shell in the stageplay - it is very likely that they're closer than the first glance suggests. (Plus, their quarrels in the audio drama revolving around Mimi being jealous of Hikari can be considered non-canon anyway!)

Jyou

The pattern continues, as Adventure onwards doesn't give Hikari many chances to talk to or interact with Jyou. 02 suggests that she thinks of him as "conscientious and sincere" (we will get to that later!). However, one of their most notable interactions in Tri has her acting exactly like that towards him, reminding him that it didn't matter why they were chosen - thus basically mirroring the things that she assumably learned from him once. In general, it can be assumed that she absolutely considers him to be reliable and helpful - as they are seen plotting to get Taichi to join them for their camp adventure together in the stageplay. (Even if she may find his methods questionable...)

Takeru

Aside from Taichi, Takeru is definitely the person Hikari becomes emotionally the closest with - and, again, it makes sense, seeing how they're not only the same age, both younger siblings of older brothers and both fated to be partners of angelic Digimon, who have seen death and destruction. At the start, seeing as Takeru is tasked to take care of her, Hikari easily looks to him for support. And even though she still has troubles opening up and be honest with him about all her worries and complexes, there is a strong sense of familiarity between them (and even though she does rely on him, he obviously wishes she'd depend on him more; it can be assumed that she doesn't aim to get overprotected again and would rather learn to see herself as equal to Takeru). As they grow older, they're often seen glued to each other - and she also becomes more and more comfortable teasing and joking around with him. There is a certain theme of her realizing that he's "grown up", noticing him as such in Tri - one could say, there are very complicated emotions of adolescents at play that are not easily put into words for either of them. And so, the nature of their relationship doesn't really fit a clear category, which continues to be the case as they become - comfortably close - adults as well. [How I see their ship compatibility]

Daisuke

At the beginning of 02, there is somewhat of a discrepancy between these two; it's quite obvious to everyone with eyes that Daisuke has a crush on Hikari and thus also acts very antagonistically towards Takeru - and while she nonchalantly and gracefully ignores the former with a smile, trying to stay polite without hurting his feelings, she absolutely cannot stand it when he does the latter, so she calls him out on it. Which, again, shows that she becomes more of her own person to stand her ground - but it also means that, again, their relationship starts off as rather rocky. Hikari is able to see the good in everyone - and thus, once Daisuke stops trying to impress her and focuses on more important things, letting his own kindness shine through, she immediately becomes softer towards him. Their conversations become more meaningful, she becomes more comfortable praising and gently encouraging him, showing that she does, indeed, value his good heart and his general attitude of never giving up. [How I see their general dynamic]

Ken

Hikari has very strong opinions on injustice and the power of darkness - so her being very strict about defeating the Digimon Kaiser and reluctant about forgiving Ken afterwards makes perfect sense. But, just like it's the case with Daisuke, she is capable of seeing the good in every person's heart - and once she notices his will to repent, once she realizes they have a similar connection to the Dark Ocean, her empathizing nature comes through. She begins acting softer and encouraging towards him, wanting him to thrive and become his own person eventually as well. [How I see their ship compatibility]

Miyako

Hikari and Miyako do not start off as particularly close at the beginning of 02 - which may make sense due to their contrasting personalities. However, as time goes on and they end up stuck in the world of darkness together, Hikari confesses that she felt envious of Miyako for being able to openly admit when she's scared or in pain. Through her interactions with Taichi and Takeru, we know that Hikari struggles with being honest about her own needs - and thanks to her being honest with Miyako, thanks to Miyako believing in her in return, their growing familiarity helps Hikari to slowly and steadily grow more comfortable with herself, keeping the Dark Ocean at bay. Despite Miyako being older than herself, it also seems like she's naturally acting as a guiding figure towards her, helping her to get through the more traumatizing aspects of being a Chosen Child. [How I see their ship compatibility]

Iori

Hikari and Iori don't get to interact with each other a lot, so estimating their stance on one another is difficult. However, she does confirm that she sees some of Jyou's best qualities in him, such as being conscientious and sincere - which, considering how he's now the youngest of the team like she used to be, is definitely worth praising.

[bethanythebogwitch]

Digimon: Dark Spore children's partner lines

The Digimon Adventure universe is so open for stories and possibilities that it's fun to speculate about many of the minor characters we see, like the international chosen children and the Dark Spore children from 02. Digimon youtuber Karn EX made a video speculating on the possible evolution lines of all the international chosen children we see in 02's Digimon world tour arc and elsewhere in the franchise. While he did not cover the lines of the partners of the Dark Spore children from the end of 02, he did note that the partner Digimon they got were all the same baby forms as the original Adventure children's partners and this was likely not a coincidence. I also think that this was intentional and that the Dark Spore children's partners should parallel the evolution lines of the Adventure partners. So I'm going to speculate on what their evolution lines could be.

Something to note is that there are 20 Dark Spore children but I'm only going to go over 8 evolution lines to parallel the 8 Adventure partners. I'm also not limiting myself to Digimon available at the time the 02 finale aired. If we ever get some follow-up on the Dark Spore kids in official media, it will be something new with plenty of access to newer Digimon.

The Dark Spore kid who gets the most spotlight in the show is Noriko Kawada, who is partnered with a Punimon. This makes her a counterpart to Matt/Yamato of the original crew and if there was a Dark Spore spin-off or sequel, I think she would be the group leader. There are black variants of the entire Gabumon line, but that's a bit boring so instead she can have Psychemon as her partner. It's a fun Gabumon variant that kind of matches Noriko's color scheme in that they both have a lot of pink. From there, I think a great Champion/Adult level is Fangmon. Fangmon being a more evil and violent counterpart to Garurumon (and more interesting than Garurumon black or Gururumon) would be great. Maybe Noriko could use her knowledge of how to deal with the Dark Spore's darkness could help teach her partner to control the violent imposes that come from being a Fangmon. For the Ultimate/Perfect level I think Astamon works. Psychemon -> Astamon has precedent in the franchise and Astamon matches WereGarurumon as the bipedal, pants-wearing member of the evolution line. For the Mega/Ultimate I picked DinoTigermon. It matches MetalGarurumon in that it goes back to being a quadruped and gains mechanical elements. It is a cat and not a wolf, but Astamon kind of has some saber-toothed cat elements with the shape of it's hair so I'm ok with it as the through line between wolf and saber-toothed cat. I think that Noriko and her partner should also be able to unlock a branched evolution at this level to MetalGarurumon black. You can probably see where I'm going with this.

Another named Dark Spore kid is Takashi Yoshizawa, who has a Poyomon. This makes him the counterpart to T.K./Takeru. They even have similar names. Patamon has two good parallels: Tsukaimon and DemiDevimon/PicoDevimon. I went back and fourth before deciding to give him DemiDevimon as it more closely fits the Angemon/Devimon rivalry. I'll use Tsukaimon later, though. From there is the fairly standard line of Devimon to NeoDevimon to DoneDevimon as the intended parallel to T.K.'s Angemon, MagnaAngemon, and Seraphimon. A heroic Devimon is fun to imagine and could create some unique stories with T.K. If you don't want to use the Devimon line because you see them as too evil or don't want to reuse major villains then an alternate could be Devidramon to Baalmon to Beelzemon.

Next up is Keiko Kurata who gets YukimiBotamon, making her a parallel to (Hi)Kari. For her rookie I will be using Tsukaimon. while it's not a direct parallel, there isn't a Salamon/Plotmon variant and Tsukaimon still lets me represent the connection between Patamon and Gatomon/Tailmon. From there, Tsukaimon will evolve to BlackGatomon/BlackTailmon. Maybe this could be its default level like Kari's partner. The next level will of course be LadyDevimon to parallel Angewomon. A heroic LadyDevimon could be a lot of fun alongside Angewomon and they could even become Mastemon in a story. (Hi)Kari is the only one of the original 8 to get a branched evolution path at the Mega/Ultimate level, getting both Magnadramon/Holydramon and Ophanimon as options. I'll also give Keiko's partner a branch with a humanoid and bestial option. The humanoid option will be Lilithmon, the dark counterpart to Ophanimon and the bestial option will be Ghoulmon/Deathmon as there aren't that many demonic dragons or beasts other than Megidramon, which I don't think fits very well.

The last of the named Dark Spore kids is Hiroshi Shibata, who gets Nyokimon, making him Sora's counterpart. His partner stumped me for a bit as there is no Biyomon/Piyomon variant and there just aren't many dark birds to choose from. I noticed that Sora's evolutions of Birdramon, Garudamon, and Hououmon are all based on mythical birds: the firebird, garuda, and hōō/fenghuang. So for Hiroshi's partner I dropped the bird theme in favor of keeping the winged mythical beast theme. The rookie is Tapirmon/Bakumon, which does not fit the theme but there is literally no other good option. At least it can levitate even if it doesn't have wings. From there it will evolve to Unimon, Hippogriffomon, and Gryphonmon, based on the pegasus, hippogriff, and griffon.

Enering the nameless Dark Spore kids we have a Pabumon to parallel Izzy/Koushiro's Tentomon. There aren't any Tentomon variants, but Kabuterimon is set up as the enemy of Kuwagamon. Therefore this line will go Kunemon, Kuwagamon, Okuwamon, and GranKuwagamon. A classic bug line.

Here I have to cheat as Joe/Jyou doesn't get a counterpart in the Dark Spore kids as his Fresh/Baby 1 form, Pichimon, does not show up among the partners at the end, so something else will have to act as the Bukamon pre-evo. Again, there is no Gomamon variant (I'm not counting x-antibody variants here) so it's time to get creative. I want a line that can work well in and out of water and keeps a consistent theme through, like Gomamon's seal/walrus theme. The line I picked starts with Crabmon/Ganimon and evolves to Ebidramon. Ebidramon being big and a bit goofy I think works to parallel Ikkakumon. The next stage will be Gusokumon, which shares some artificial traits with Zudomon. Zudomon carries a hammer and wears armor while Gusokumon is upgraded with mechanical parts. Sadly, there is no crustacean Mega/Ultimate level to pick from so the final stage will have to be Regalecusmon. It still kind of works, both lines ending with a humanoid warrior and Regalecusmon does use Ebidramon's claw as a shield.

The Yuramon parallels Mimi's Palmon and we finally have an actual variant to work with in the form of Alraumon, a darker Palmon. For the next level I picked RedVegiemon to parallel Togemon. They're both more monstrous and goofy evolutions of a cute little plant and use punches in battle. I picked RedVegiemon over Vegiemon and Weedmon as those two are supposed to be failed Digimon akin to Numemon while RedVegiemon is the complete and ripened form. For the Ultimate/Perfect level, Oleamon is perfect. It looks like a Lilymon with depression and it acts as a carnivorous flower. There's not a prefect Mega/Ultimate level as the only dark plants at that level don't fit, so I picked Lotusmon. That way there could be a hypothetical fusion with Mimi's Rosemon to get a Rafflesimon.

Finally we reach the Tai(chi) parallel with Botamon. We are spoiled for choice when it comes to Agumon variants. YukiAgumon, Agumon black, Agumon 2006, 2006 versions of Yuki and black, and three versions of ToyAgumon before even getting into x-antibodies or Agumon Hakase. Our Tai(chi) parallel will use Agumon black. Once again, there are black versions of the whole Agumon line, but that's a little boring. Instead, Agumon black will evolve to DarkTyrannomon. Tyrannomon was the original default evo for Agumon before Greymon stole the spotlight, so referencing it here with its dark variant works. From there it will become MetalTyrannomon and Samudramon/Gaioumon. This works as a great parallel, going from little dinosaur to big dinosaur to cyborg dinosaur to humanoid warrior dinosaur just like Agumon. Like with Noriko's partner above, this Tai parallel will get an alternate mega in the form of BlackWarGreymon. That way, the Dark Spore kids can have their own Omnimon/Omegamon in the form of Omegamon Zwart. And from there, just like all the original 8 can combine their power to become Omegamon Merciful Mode, all the dark spore kids can combine their power to become Omegamon Zwart Defeat.

[i-promise-i-am-not-on-drugs]

Alright, rewatching episode 05×02 of stranger things, let's go!

I'm going to write what I thought/saw in each scenes, so it's probably going to be long.

1) Joyce

Wow, that house is really looking ominous as hell.

2) Will and Mike

Okay first of all THE FAMOUS WILL VOICE OMGJDKKKDKFKSKSJJCJXISKWJXJJWH!!! TuT💕

Sorry.

Anyway, I really like that Mike is trying to help Will by giving him some sort of reason as to why all this is happening.

Also,

Will, stuttering: You really think so?

Mike, softly: Yeah. Yeah, I really do.

This is just so sweet.

3) Hopper

Damn, I forgot about that.

This underground place is so full of toxic spores, I'm surprised he even walked this far!

Also, he was kinda dumb about it. I mean, these spores are pretty huge, I wouldn't go in there without covering my mouth and nose honestly.

Rip Hopper, I know you'll survive that but I feel for you man 🫡

4) Nancy and Jonathan

"you want a single. (side eye) Or a double." LMAO--

Anyway.

(The hand/scar thing is so adorable I love them. )

Damn, amazing communication skills guys. 🙂

5) Mike, Will and Joyce

Love how Mike is staying next to Will, even if he knows that it's probably dangerous. :)

Also,

Will: I think he's in trouble. I think he's going to die.

Woah, that's actually pretty cool. Also creepy, but still pretty cool. :D

6) Hopper

Guess Will has someone to relate with now. (Puking weird and disgustingly slimly Upside Down stuff)

Nice, he finally though about protecting his mouth and nose.

A cigarette really? ._.

I mean, at least he left something.

7) The Sinclairs

(I love Erica she's so sassy)

Miss and Mr Sinclair are such cool parents! :)

They're my favorite adult couple if I'm being honest.

I love how Lucas asked his dad what he does when his mom's angry, it really shows that he has a big crush on Max. And it's pretty cute too! :3

(The Sinclair mens really are a perfect example of "my girl is mad at me I hope I die" lol)

8) the Handersons

Oh noo, Mewsyyyyy..!! :(

Dustin, you smart manipulative little shit. (This is both so sad and so funny help)

That plan to catch Dart was actually really smart!! Amazing job Dustin!! :)

Also, "I'm sorry. You ate my cat." that made me laugh for like two minutes straight lol--

9) Eleven

That random man in the truck was so nice, I hope he'll succeed in whatever he's doing in his life.

Alright, go find your mom El. I don't remember how that went, but hopefully not too bad.

ELEVEN MY GIRL YOU CAN'T JUST USE YOUR POWERS TO ENTER SOMEONE'S HOUSE DEAR---

Alright, that went.... Alright I guess... Hhh...

10) Nancy, Jonathan and Murray

Murray is such an interesting character, I really liked this part.

Also, completely destroying his evidences was such a Nancy thing to do lol--

11) Max and Lucas

(Hell yeah, fuck Billy. Anyway.)

Alright, I really love lumax, and I know that it wouldn't have happened if this scene didn't, but I still think it was a bad decision to tell Max what happened.

I know she "accepted the risk", but she wasn't taking it seriously and that was pretty dumb (but completely understandable) of her.

Now, let's go Lucas. Put your future girlfriend in the secret!

12) Will, Mike, Joyce, and Bob

Wow, Bob is actually really, really smart. I forgot about that too.

(Also, I really love how Mike and Will are always next to each other. That's cute. ^^)

13) Hopper

Okay, first of all, ew.

And then, good job Jim!! You found an exit! :D

14) Dustin (+Erica)

I mean, at least the cat got a proper grave.

Ooohhhh,, right. He cleaned the blood. Must be slightly traumatic.

Like I said before, I love Erica and her sassy attitude, but right now it's not playing for her side. Not cool Erica.

15) Eleven and Becky (+Mama) (forgot her name)

I really love how understanding Becky is there. She's trying to stay calm and find aweser, without pushing El to get them. It's nice.

And I forgot that her mom also had some kind of powers, that's pretty cool!

16) Will, Mike, Joyce, and Bob

He's really, really smart. That's cool.

Poor dude must be so confused thought--

17) Dustin and Steve at the Wheeler's

Damn, two hours is fucking long--

Anyway.

Ted is pretty fucking useless, you're right Dustin. I like how it's really clear that Dustin has no respect at all for Ted, I mean he's swearing without even thinking twice about it! Really shows how passive Ted is in everyone's lives.

Steve coming to give Nancy flowers and "apologize"... My boy stop lying to yourself, you know this relationship is already fucked.

Anyway.

It's funny how Dustin orders him around and he doesn't even blinks lol

18) Hopper

Yep, the spores are getting to him again.

And the vines, apparently. Rest in pieces my dude. (Sorry)

19) Lucas and Max (+Billy)

I mean, of course she's not going to immediately believe you, who would! I mean, at least she has some doubts.

Alright, fuck Billy again, in a non sexy way, can't wait to see him die. (/hj)

20) Nancy, Jonathan, and Murray

Murray thinking with alcohol and music is so funny to me.

Also, he's so right about the counter thing.

Anyway.

That scene is so badass. ✨

21) The Lab

Welp, that's weird as fuck.

22) Eleven, Becky, and Mama

Well, that for sure was intense. Also made me really uneasy, but it was pretty interesting.

Guess we know why "rainbows" now.

Also, tinny eight (I forgot the name she chose), if it is actually her, is so adorable. :)

23) Will, Mike, Joyce, Bob, Hopper, and Hawkins Lab

Poor Bob is confused as hell.

The way Joyce is immediately clinging to Hopper to make sure he's okay makes me kinda sad for Bob, but I guess we know why.

(Also, Jim almost forgetting his hat and going back to take it was so funny to me lol)

Alright now, Will.

Nothing much to say here, but HOLY HELL WHAT THE FUCK MY POOR BOY IS HAVING A SEIZURE!!!! DO SOMETHING PEOPLE??

— End note

Welp, that episode was something! I'll watch the next one in a bit.

[1nkstainedsoul]

im just rewatching a lot of stuff so hear me out

with the adventure 99 kids, the only way they know how to interact with digimon is if the world is at stake. there is a definite Divide of the human and digital world. the hikarigaoka and odaiba fog incident seals the deal with them. next time theyre called, diaboromon is rampaging the internet, and they can finally see their friends again. they had to part ways, and deal with growing without them first.

with the 02 cast, the worlds intertwine. they deal with enemies that interact with them in both worlds and have influence in both. by episode 50, the digimon being at home is a pretty open secret. they do everything together and in the 02 cast were a part of the incidents.

thats why kizuna was so jarring for them. at least taichi, yamato and sora. with the digimon now being more known, they could take them to class. they could have lunch out with them. however, there is definitely a cloud of 'I have only seen them in a life-threatening situation, what can I do with them' thoughts that's blocking them from having fun with them.

jou's arc in adventure especially speaks out to me. his issues are especially why he and gomamon are still together. its because of the issues at home. in the digital world, he learns the value of reliability in his own way. his own choice, as both a Chosen Child and as a person.

dealing with problems that relate to human social issues is hard for the 99 digidestined because all they know dealing with problems is to fight their way through it. it doesn't pass their thoughts that the digimon themselves are related to their own personal issues.