#also the comedic potential of the clash in SO underutilized

[letsrearise]

Season 1 retrospective part III:Keito's missed potential.

Keito is the ReArise character I find most underwhelming to talk about with regards his season-one material. While the first season is overall formulaic and goofy— not something that's exactly tightly written nor super serious for the most part, it does offer plenty of highlights for the other Tamers. It's not like there wasn't material that could be compelling for him, but his writing is definitely the one that suffered the most in season one. So I mostly set to talk about what ideas I'd have liked to see developed for him and what exactly doesn't click for me about what we do get.

Inconsistent start

His introduction in act 5 is likely the most fun one out of the introductory acts. The comedic effect to Elecmon chasing him through the mall brings to mind Adventure's Jou, but he's quickly set apart by his level-headed curiosity putting him in hot water with the Spiral of the act. There is a funny contrast here: he's both wary and a worrywart, but also a serenely curious guy. He's like a mix of Koushiro's desk-man role, Jiangliang's serenity and Jou's anxiety packaged into an unassuming, mellow young man.

During the first library incident, he refuses to participate in Michi's antics—and the Tamers' activities by extension— because he's busy with his college papers. The idea of a Tamer whose human-world responsibilities and priorities clash with his new-found role as a Tamer is a compelling one. Elecmon's frustration over Keito's decision to stay behind and their boredom over the lull that is waiting for Keito to be done are good setup for the friction in their relationship and Keito's struggle to accept his role as Tamer. Except that's not where we end up going, for worse.

Despite the fact he's put off by the idea of willingly putting oneself in harms way when Michi wants to test out training to evolve Plotmon, and passing on investigating the ghost rumors in favor of keeping his little sister out of the nonsense (hello, human-world responsibilities and protective-older-brother trope), it's not necessarily a conflict that gets the spotlight for his adult evolution act. His curiosity and want to research Spirals and Digimon never clash with his reservation over the dangers they represent, despite the later showing up in his perfect evolution act and the Eiji sidestory of season 2. In fact, he helps out to save Truffle in act 10 just fine. Similarly, by the start of act 11,he already has the resolve to bite the bullet and fight Spirals in order to prevent other people from getting caught up in the middle like he did in act 5, his prior complete reluctance to get involved notwithstanding.

Instead of getting to see how he gets to that point, we get… a rather childish fight between him and Elecmon in act 11. Mind you, an immature outburst of emotion can be an appealing way to drive the conflict brewing to the forefront; if Elecmon's tantrum served to illustrate their growing frustration and disillusionment in the Tamer they were initially so excited to finally meet in person, that would be one thing. ReArise's setting about Tamers first meeting their partners through their phones until the digimon eventually realize into the human world is an unique and relatively underutilized aspect. The concept of the process of becoming partners being a lot more mundane and taking a lot of adjustment is unseen and appealing. However, the fight we get doesn't underline any of that. Elecmon misunderstands an idiom and zaps Keito, while also acting like a toddler because he's jealous of Keito talking well of Herismon. It comes across as jarring to suddenly have Elecmon act so childishly. Sure, they have been like a little kid stuck in the mall with their parent more than once, but you'd think their differences would lie in the clash of their personalities and priorities.

It's worth mentioning that this isn't the only time ReArise employs a childish fight in an adult-evo act, with the resident comedy duo that are Michi and Plotmon also having a quite goofy, bratty fight in theirs. However, they work out a lot better because it serves to showcase they're close enough to be utterly immature with each other, taking teasing too far and knowing all about each other's embarrassing points and weaknesses. They're two peas in a pod, and they serve as an ideal of partnership Herismon desires for themself. Watching Keito and Elecmon bridge their differences isn't nearly as satisfying because their fight doesn't address their clashing personalities nor the actual causes that could be causing dissatisfaction between them. Keito's act of bravery with him finally putting himself in the spot and shielding Elecmon from danger rings hollow when he was already at a point where he's fine with helping deal with the Spirals. Still, Leomon's debut playing out like a reference to Oz' cowardly lion is good in theory, especially when Leomon is all about being a noble, brave hero.

Foregone conclusion

Generally speaking, the perfect evolution acts (plus Takumi's ultimate material) serve to give a bit more depth to the Tamers characterizations and themes. It's vital set up for their season-two writing, so I found myself really digging that stretch on rewatch. Not so much Keito's though, as he once again gets rather underwhelming material. We've been here and done that countless times before in this franchise: the overprotective older brother needs to learn to trust the little sibling (more often than not, little sister). ReArise doesn't break the formula, but rather punches it up to goofy levels. It's more of a parody of the trope than a serious exploration of the Tamada siblings' dynamic. Nozomi is comically unaware of the danger she is in, but it's clear from the beginning there's no dramatic tension to derive here because her playmate and new bestie is Pumpmon, who's more than enough to protect her. Rather, the one causing trouble is Keito. His berating causes her to throw a tantrum, and we engage in a silly Coyote and roadrunner chase with the two of them, until Keito decides to chill and trust his sister. The conclusion is foregone from the setup itself, but that doesn't mean we couldn't have had some interest here. Keito being so much older, at least a decade, than Nozomi driving their rift could lend some novelty to this well-worn trope. Having to get out of his head and extend respect and trust to those he can't possibly understand could tie in well with him overcoming his own wariness of digimon and blossoming into the enthusiastic bridge between worlds he wants to become in season two. Ultimately, it's more missed potential.

It's a shame season one didn't outline his arc better, given his Tamer responsibilities end up being about helping those around you and getting to have a hand in building the kind of world you wanna live in, even when it clashes with other priorities. It's such a perfect theme for a character that has just become a "young adult", though, admittedly, that's the sort of coming-of-age arc that fits season two's sensibilities and deftness much better.