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piracytheorist · 2 years ago

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@darcynne that’s all I needed as motivation to write my “Yamato as an Astronaut makes no fucking sense” meta so here it goes!

So ever since I found out, as a kid even, that in the 25 years after part, Yamato becomes an astronaut... I've had Questions. I guess I was supposed to go like "Wow he's an astronaut that's so cool wow!" but instead I just can't help thinking how much that clashes with his personality.

Yamato’s alignment is Chaotic.

Probably the most chaotic-inclined of all the original twelve children. Something that is even more clear in the Japanese dialogues, since he's, I think, the only character that never uses name honorifics. He also calls his dad "oyaji" (my old man), being the only character to use such a blunt term for his own father - a form of authority in his life. From a general standpoint, the way he reacts to stuff happening and acts as HE thinks is best and not abiding to social norms, that's the crux of any chaotic character; acting on their own reason and not caring what society expects of them - which is different from not caring whether others see him as emotionally vulnerable; he doesn't care if people think he's rude, but he cares if people think he's vulnerable (at least in the first season; in 02 he is much more in tune with his own emotions but he still doesn't care about following social norms).

But you'll tell me, he depended on being seen as a good older brother for Takeru, and this is a societal expectation he wanted to follow. And I'll tell you, this fucked Yamato up. The one way he pushed himself to follow social norms was by overcompensating for not being a part of Takeru's everyday life by being overly protective and losing his shit every time he lost sight of Takeru for 1.5 seconds. The worst part being how he became almost possessive over Takeru, feeling that anyone who simply becomes close with Takeru will eventually take him away from Yamato, therefore Takeru must not have other friends, Takeru only needs Yamato, Takeru is a helpless little baby that can't do anything on his own... that's all Yamato depended on on the idea that by "social norms" means he has to be a "good older brother". None of his methods showed how much he loved Takeru, because those methods were not him. I mean, he does love his brother, but his dependence on showing a "good big brother" façade pushed him to behaviours that go against his character and his expression. We see it much more clearly in 02, where he acts way more casual and open with his brother, now that he's at peace with his own self and emotions.

He is artistic, not a nerd.

Not that those two cannot combine. But in the show's case, the "nerdy" characters were clear: Koushiro and Jou in the first season, and Iori and Miyako (and Ken?) in the second. Yamato never expresses any curiosity to learn something further, to fully invest himself into reading and studying. He is much more a practical person; he plays music, he cooks, he loves spending free time with the people he cares about... we never see him lose himself in a book or a computer screen, absorbing every piece of information given to him.

Again, not that a person cannot be a book/information nerd and artistic at the same time. But Yamato is clearly only one of those. His passions are his music and his friends. Of course, interests can change from adolescence and into adulthood, but you don't just suddenly gain an interest for going down rabbit holes of research the moment you turn 18.

And most importantly, Yamato is a fictional character. Real people can have changes of heart at any moment, or because of the circumstances they grew up in, maybe they never got the chance to be nerdy until after a certain point in their lives. But Yamato is fictional, with every writing choice being deliberate. It was deliberate to not show him with his nose in a book, to not show him gaining interest in engines, to make him a reactionary pre-teen and teenager whom you cannot imagine ever willingly joining the armed forces.

He was traumatized by his parents' divorce, the separation from his mother and brother, and the limited time he got with his father due to the latter working overtime way too often.

Yamato spent almost the entirety of the first season feeling that if he doesn't act like a good older brother, then he is worthless and doesn't deserve being taken care of. That if he isn't of practical use to someone, then no-one will care about him. And being taken care of is something he longed for - every time his Crest of Friendship glows before the evolution sequence (because there are times that the evolution sequence just starts without the Crest glowing outside of it) is because he variably felt that someone else took him into consideration: Jou saving Takeru and telling Yamato he wasn't mad about Yamato being a Bitch at him; Pumpmon and Gotsumon protecting them from Vamdemon; Gabumon telling him that he'll follow and believe in him no matter what; Taichi saying he believed Yamato would come back for them. It's not just that he cares for his friends, it's that he also treasures others trusting and believing in him. His love language is Quality Time (and a bit of Acts of Service). He's not good with words, or personal gifts, and I'd also say physical touch but this may also be because of cultural differences between my culture and Japan's. In his goodbye to Gabumon, all he can do - after Gabumon requests it, no less - is play the harmonica for him one last time.

And it's that lack of quality time, the lack of confirmation that someone cares about him, that made him as closed-off and emotional as he is for the majority of the first season, that made him even wonder out loud why someone like him got the Crest of Friendship.

So, Yamato is a chaotic-aligned artist that loves spending time with his loved ones, and more often than not allows himself to act solely on his emotions.

Now let's make a small breakdown of what the job of an astronaut is like:

For JAXA, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, the requirements are an advanced degree in science as of education, and as of professional experience it's three years of work experiece in science or in the Japanese Self Defence Forces.

NASA requires experience in flying aircrafts, for JAXA it's not mandatory but it's certainly something that would help. Spacecrafts have a shit ton of machinery and technical stuff you need to learn about and be able to handle, especially if something starts going wrong.

From a technical standpoint, an astronaut is a type of soldier. They have to follow orders, have a very strict code that can literally mean life or death during a mission, etc. etc. And as said above, JAXA takes into consideration experience in armed forces. By definition, soldiers are of Lawful alignment, and simply cannot work by any other alignment.

It's a demanding profession, one that someone needs to dedicate a lot of time to, and if/when they are finally chosen for a mission, they could spend entire months in space with only video calls to their loved ones on Earth. There they instead practically live with whatever coworkers their agency chose for them, and the relationship between such coworkers can be only strictly professional because of the high demands of the work they do.

So an astronaut has to be a lawful-aligned science/engineer nerd that doesn't mind being away from loved ones for long periods of time and will NEVER allow their emotions to get the better of them.

... where the FUCK does Yamato fit in all this? The requirements of an astronaut go directly against EVERYTHING Yamato really is.

As I said, Yamato is a fictional character. It was the writers' choice to give him all the traits that make him incompatible for becoming an astronaut, it was their choice to keep those traits as he grew into a teenager, and it was their choice to eventually give him that profession, practically saying that everything Yamato was as a pre-teen and a teen vanished when he became an adult.

In real life, people can "change" or discover things about themselves as they grow up. But fiction almost NEVER portrays such realism, because that's not the point of fiction. The point of fiction is to give us pieces of a puzzle and for us to put them together. Sometimes the pieces are super easy to match; sometimes the Author takes our hands and pieces the puzzle together for us; sometimes it gets a little while for the pieces to reveal the edges so that we can connect them; sometimes we need to find pieces in other sources (behind the scenes material, interviews, etc) in order to complete the puzzle; sometimes the pieces don't fit together and don't make sense; and sometimes the Author breaks apart the pieces so that they can force connection among pieces that don't fit.

And in Yamato as an Astronaut's case, it's plain and clear the last case.

I have seen people trying to justify this writing choice for some reason, and nothing I've ever seen makes sense to me. The most common explanation is that Yamato is a romantic soul and wanted to go to space with Gabumon, and I'm like, he chose a profession that goes against everything he is, dedicated countless time and entire years of his life in preparation to become an astronaut, all because he had a dream of going somewhere SpecialTM with Gabumon? What if JAXA went like "How are we gonna send a Digimon to space we don't know shit about their physiology what purpose is he even gonna serve in the spacecraft what the FUCK Ishida-san"? How about, idk, climbing mount Everest or something?

I mean, I mentioned the fact that he was traumatized by how little time he had to spend with his family when he was young, because by becoming an astronaut he practically did the same with his own children. Do y'all think an astronaut gets more time with their kids than an overworked journalist?!

I am a musician myself, and though I discovered my love for music in my teens, I do not think that anyone who likes music in their teens has to become a musician. People’s interests change, and there’s a shit ton of difference between music as a hobby and music as your job. People who do the mistake of becoming professional musicians without loving being a professional musician come to the sad development of hating both music and their job.

But in any case, as I said, Yamato is a fictional character so it wouldn’t hurt anyone if they had him become a professional musician. It would be much more in harmony with his character traits, it would allow him to be as emotionally expressive as he was in 01 and 02, and depending on what exactly he did as a musician, it would allow him to spend more time with his kids.

I mean, you want something that looks FUCKING AWESOME for Cool Yamato’s very Cool Future Career? Think of this: Yamato is the lead singer/bassist of a famous J-rock group. They have a concert. The crowd is screaming because they know to expect something awesome. The group sans Yamato comes out on stage, start their opening song, and when it’s Yamato’s time to come on stage, he BURSTS THROUGH a paper wall behind the stage, riding on Garurumon’s back. Garurumon blasts blue flames above the crowd as Yamato belts out a scream, signaling the end of their opening number. Now wouldn’t you pay a shit ton of money to see that live? Toei Animation Studios call me.

#Yamato Ishida #Digimon #digimon meta

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shihalyfie · 4 years ago

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A meta on Mimi and her character

Today’s spotlight character is Mimi! While the Adventure characters are all written to subvert character stereotypes (no, really), I feel this is particularly enhanced for Mimi, whose surface demeanor and the first impression you get from her suggest an almost opposite character to whom she actually is.

Disclaimer before we continue: While not to the same extent as Daisuke, Mimi’s disposition and personality have some significant differences in the American English dub compared to the original Japanese. As usual, this is not meant to be any particular comment about the dub’s changes, but simply that if you’ve only seen that dub, are reading this post, and are thinking “that doesn’t seem right?” that would probably be why.

Mimi’s family background and attitude prior to Adventure

Like with any of the other Adventure characters, understanding Mimi’s personality and why she acts the way she does is most easily done by starting with her family background.

We first meet Mimi’s family in Adventure episode 35.

There is a lot to unpack with only this scene alone, so let’s get started!

Mimi’s family is quite well-to-do. They’re not filthy rich or anything, but they’re well-to-do enough for Mimi’s father to work freelancer (he works in music). This means that Mimi grew up with a fairly “comfortable” life, probably getting pretty much anything she asked for -- in other words, she’s spoiled. It also explains why she’s actually pretty impeccably polite to everyone -- she adheres very firmly to honorifics when speaking to both elders and younger people, and never, ever speaks roughly or aggressively, because her parents have basically been raising her like a “lady of the house” (ojousama) or princess. (She does use casual-form Japanese, but she never lets up on the honorifics.)

They’re very open-minded. We learn in this episode that Mimi’s bizarre food tastes in liking natto on her eggs with sugar (from Adventure episode 6) most likely come from her mother, Satoe, cooking things like kimchi fried rice with whipped cream and strawberries. In other words, the family is very into the idea of “unconventional and strange” and has no qualms about it.

While Mimi in 02 is portrayed as liking practically any kind of fashion aesthetic imaginable, both her room and the overall decor of the apartment suggest that “in-your-face cute” is the generally favored one.

Mimi’s family is also extremely affectionate. They smother each other in lovey-dovey words, her father actively likes Satoe’s weird cooking ideas, and it’s a household where everyone seems to dote on and mutually love and support each other (Mimi’s parents are almost embarrassingly lovey-dovey) without restraint.

The result is that Mimi ends up “spoiled sweet” -- she’s pampered and used to a comfortable life where everyone dotes on her, but because of the family dynamic being so built on “affection” and “open-mindedness”, she also never develops a streak towards condescension or malice.

What does that mean, you might ask?

Mimi in Adventure

A lot of people remember Mimi by the fact that she was “whining a lot” in the early stages of Adventure, and the fact that she’s a “girly-girl” with some of the associated stereotypes. As a result, one may be surprised to hear that her behavior is actually supposed to be mostly representative of an average child in her situation, and she’s often described in press materials as “someone who can befriend anyone” or “someone who can get along with anyone”. Even her official website profile talks about how pretty much everyone considers her likeable.

This may seem difficult to believe at first, but you might actually notice a pattern when it comes to her “complaining” -- it pretty much always boils down to one of the following, or something along these lines:

I’m scared

I’m tired

I don’t like this/I don’t want that

I want a bath/bed/food/(some other home comfort)

I want to go home

In other words, Mimi is basically reacting like an average child would when thrown into another world out of nowhere! All of her complaints are out of low tolerance and high sensitivity -- all of these scary and uncomfortable things around her are making her feel bad, and she’s not hesitating to make that clear with her words.

However -- and this is very important -- these are all things she’s saying specifically because she’s now in a dangerous, unfamiliar situation in another world. All of these things are things she says defensively, because she’s sensitive to being uncomfortable or hurt, but she is also never aggressive towards others. In completely normal situations -- ones where all she’s doing is socializing at school -- it’s not hard to believe that she would actually be one of the nicest and most considerate people on the planet and that she would be instantly likeable to anyone she meets. Why? Because she lacks condescension or malice. She’s a very nice person who, if not for being under heavy stress, would never step on anyone’s toes. Even during those early episodes of Adventure, whenever there’s “down time” and they’re not in an uncomfortable situation or being chased by something, she goes back to being polite and respectful of others (remember: she’s one of the most adherent to honorifics among the cast), and is perfectly kind and agreeable with them.

As much as she may sometimes get demanding during the early episodes of Adventure, she also doesn’t expect her peers to cater to her nor does she look down on them. One of the biggest examples comes from the Adventure novel:

Mi–chan was pointing at the front of the bus, where a boy wearing a long–sleeved orange shirt was about to get off. Even Mimi knew who he was. They hardly ever talked together, but he was her classmate, Koushiro Izumi. Mi–chan wanted them to look at what Koushiro was carrying on his back – a wireless laptop. “Isn’t he so weird for bringing that all the way to camp?” Mi–chan sneered with mocking laughter, but Mimi didn’t laugh. She simply didn’t find any reason to.

In a situation where people are mocking this weirdo kid for bringing his laptop to camp, Mimi “sees no reason” to look down on him. To her, what’s the point? It’s not fun to be malicious towards others, and she sees no benefit in dunking on him. Hence, because she’s actually very polite and open-minded towards others, and doesn’t see any reason to be mean, she’s not mean, and so you can see why everyone would like her -- after all, she’s not only bright and cheerful, she’s also polite and kind! Who wouldn’t like such a nice person?

Mimi’s first “focus episode” is Adventure episode 6, and we already see a lot of these traits in action. Mimi gets to see the other kids making absolute fools of themselves under Monzaemon’s brainwashing, but the most she has to say is just observing that they seem to not be having fun, and being worried about their well-being. Once she finds out the truth behind what he did to them, she gets extremely angry on her friends’ behalf -- she actually calls them her “friends”, despite them barely knowing each other at this point!

And then when the Numemon step in to fight for her, despite her initially having been turned off by them (mainly because they make her uncomfortable, both by indulging in literal poop around her presence and by invading her personal space by flirting with her), she actually almost breaks down in tears over them!

What this all means is that Mimi’s “high sensitivity” also translates to something else: Mimi has extremely high empathy for others. In terms of being “sensitive”, she’s also sensitive to how other people feel. She worries about others’ welfare constantly, even when they’re poop-throwing slime monsters who had just flirted with her, or near-stranger classmates who just happen to have been thrown onto this adventure with her whom she barely knows. That’s why she’s so nice to other people -- she feels for them, and she constantly empathizes with others’ emotions, so that’s why she’s never rude to others nor does she step on their toes.

It’s also why, even after Koushirou rubs her the wrong way and momentarily causes her to lash out at him for being insensitive about her feelings in Adventure episode 10, she also never seems to hold a grudge against him thereafter (especially since, for as much as he was acting pretty frustrating, she understands he was doing it out of good intentions). In fact, Mimi is pretty much incapable of holding a grudge at all. (More on this later!)

Mimi’s most famous incident of “succumbing to her vices” is Adventure episode 25, when she ends up letting the Geckomon and Otamamon pamper her while stringing along and refusing to do the job they’d needed her for in the first place (singing to wake TonosamaGeckomon). Let’s go over what led to Mimi getting in this situation:

Mimi was basically at her limit. She had been in the Digital World for what had been implied to be months. Going that long without her bath or soft bed or comfort, it’s understandable that she finally let stress overcome her and succumbed to her vices in full. This is basically Mimi at one of her worst possible breaking points, not her most of the time.

Taichi, Jou, and their partners never gave her a very good reason why they should leave (Taichi never explained the problems going on in the real world, nor that he’d even taken a pit stop there) and now, for all she knows, they’re trapped in the Digital World forever, so when she sees an offer to make it all stop hurting, she naturally takes it -- especially when the people telling her to leave aren’t giving her any reason why except that she should.

Even despite all that, Mimi has a complete mental breakdown after her tantrum ends up throwing everyone in jail, dreaming about how everyone must hate her now and how even the Geckomon and Otamamon are tiring of her (the fact this pops up in her dream implies that she’d had a feeling this was coming for a while now). Sora comes to give her a little encouragement, but even she says that Mimi already really knows what she should be doing now. Mimi ends up bringing everyone out to apologize to them and fulfill her duty before the night is even over.

So let’s recap: Mimi is so empathetic and worried about other people’s feelings and what they think of her that, even in arguably one of the worst mental health crashes we’ve ever seen her have on screen, she still breaks down at the prospect of disappointing everyone and making them hate her to the point she immediately recognizes how far she’s fallen and takes it back before the night’s even over. That is how much other people, ranging from Taichi to a crowd of Digimon she’s only vaguely acquainted with, matter to her.

The full “payoff” for this episode in terms of the light of the Crest of Purity glowing and achieving Lilimon evolution does not happen until Adventure episode 35.

It is interesting for a lot of reasons, mainly because it involves all of the events happening in response to things that don’t sound very virtuous on their face (early in the episode, Mimi insensitively comments on Palmon being “bad taste”, and later in the episode she starts considering the Digimon tormenting others unforgivable).

The “Crest of Purity” (sometimes “Innocence”) is something that’s often been difficult to translate, mainly because the easiest words that come to mind often have other unwanted implications, but the real point of it is that, again, Mimi is lacking in malice. The way she talks to Palmon at the beginning of the episode indicates she really didn’t think Palmon would take it seriously (she even urges her to “not think too much into it”), only to find out at the end of the episode that she sort of kind of did. (Trust me, she’s very sorry about it.) The other thing is that, when she starts protesting at the Digimon at the end of the episode, she’s doing this specifically because she’s weeping on behalf of all of the tormented civilians (including her family) that are being caught in the crossfire. She’s so constantly empathetic towards other people that seeing other people hurt, regardless of how well she knows them, just eats her inside. So for her, those who cause that kind of suffering are unforgivable, because they’re inflicting that pain on others.

This is also what leads to her breakdown near the three-quarters mark of the series. Like with how she eventually came to empathize with the Numemon who fought on her behalf, Mimi holds no grudge against Scumon and Chuumon despite them having flirted with her earlier, and Chuumon taking a hit for her hurts her the deepest among all of the other kids. Because Mimi is so empathetic towards others, every death starts tearing away further until she finally can’t take it anymore.

Mimi is fundamentally the kind of person who hates fighting, and even from day one she’d never liked it -- her way of “encouraging” fighting was more like hoping that Palmon (or her evolved forms) could survive. If she wanted to win, it was in the sense of wanting everyone to Not Die; she was never belligerent. But now that the actual body count of people she considers friends is rising, she associates fighting so deeply with that body count that the pain gets to her, and the last straw breaks in Adventure episode 45 in the form of two people she considers friends, Taichi and Yamato, getting in a fight. Everyone around her is hurt. Everyone around her is pain. The naturally empathetic Mimi feels all of this, and she thus decides to pull back from the fighting.

Mimi being such a firm pacifist does have its benefits -- not only does it mean that she holds no grudge against Ogremon in Adventure episode 46 and bid for treating his wounds even though Jou (understandably!) is initially more skeptical because of how he’d initially tried to kill them, she also creates a major dent in Ogremon’s “fated rival” philosophy towards Leomon by forcing him to question: so what if you do defeat your rival? Then what? What’s the point of fighting? Does it actually make you feel better to try and prove your strength this way? (Even Leomon, for all he’s portrayed as noble, is still shown to have a petty investment in his conflict with Ogremon in the following episode.) Ogremon tries not to think too hard about it, but Mimi questioning “what he would do if Leomon were gone” becomes a question he really does have to confront when Leomon dies in the next episode...

...which is also an important learning lesson for Mimi herself as well: fighting may cause collateral damage, but not fighting doesn’t help things either, because when less-than-virtuous forces are at work, casualties will happen either way. In fact, it’s even worse to be a sitting duck, because now you’re just doing nothing when people die right in front of you. Which is a lesson that Jou had wanted to tell her earlier, but didn’t know how to describe to her in words because of his own complicated feelings:

What he wanted to tell her was this: that he didn’t see any likelihood of co-existing with the Dark Masters, and that they had no other choice but to fight them. Even a neutral country like Switzerland had a military. They would be invaded by enemy countries without one. It would be nice and ideal if they used the nonviolent resistance approach as Ghandi did. But that didn’t mean it was okay to just be killed without lifting a finger… But not even he could find a good answer.

However, Mimi is still a pacifist. Even if she finally understands that fighting is necessary, that should not mean that she should now force herself to become someone gung-ho and enthusiastic about it. This is why, in Adventure episode 50, Jou contemplates different ways they can productively contribute to the fight -- because Mimi should not be obligated to personally fight herself when it’s not in her fundamental nature, and Jou personally does not feel that he’s very good at it. But Jou, having put some thought into “one’s own path”, realizes that literal physical violence fighting isn’t the only way to be “part of the fight” -- and so while Jou starts to realize that his unique role is becoming someone who can be a capable healer and doctor for those who are wounded, Mimi has her own talents that she can use to bring Digimon and other allies together. Because Mimi is a kind and charismatic person whom everyone finds likeable and would be willing to come along with, and since she holds no grudges against anyone, nobody would hold any grudges against her, so she’s perfect for the role of “bringing people together for the sake of what they want to protect”.

And she does. Adventure being a series that respects the contributions of those who don’t necessarily participate by direct fighting, Mimi’s rallying together of the Digimon becomes key to saving everyone in Adventure episode 52, and the fact that everyone’s together in the end makes for a great group photo.

Speaking of the final episode, in case the point hadn’t been driven home enough that Mimi’s the most empathetic and emotionally sensitive of the entire cast, the series famously ends on her very emotionally compromised farewell with Palmon. Of course, Palmon’s the one who kind of initiated it (she’s the one who initially refuses to see Mimi because she’s too emotionally compromised), but, after all, the series ends on Mimi being so frazzled about it that she loses her hat.

Mimi in 02 and beyond

As with the other Adventure kids, Mimi’s character arc continues in 02, and we learn a lot about her before she even makes her first personal appearance!

Firstly, we learn that Mimi’s moved to America. The in-universe reason is that it’s for her father’s work...or, at least, ostensibly so, because 02 episode 40 implies that the actual reason was that her parents wanted them to be away from Digimon incidents. (Which, of course, didn’t last very long.) The meta reason for Mimi moving, however, very likely has to do with the fact that 02 involves a subplot of Chosen Children appearing all over the world, and Mimi’s character involves an innate talent for bringing people together.

We learn in Two-and-a-Half Year Break that Mimi moved in 2001, only one year before 02′s events, and eventually got caught in the 9/11 incident -- where she met a number of other American Chosen Children in New York and, now much stronger of heart since the events of Adventure, was able to help them in the recovery efforts, despite there being a language barrier. With this, and the fact she’s shown at a huge party in 02 episode 14: they’re not kidding when they say Mimi can become friends with pretty much anyone. Even going to an entirely different country and dealing with a language and cultural barrier, Mimi is such a naturally kind and compassionate person that she immediately doesn’t have any problem fitting in. (Because, really, someone that level of kind and friendly is hard to dislike.) And in a world where international solidarity between Chosen Children is getting more and more important, that is a very valuable role to have.

The other thing we find out early about Mimi in 02 episode 2 is that Sora catches on that Miyako is a lot like Mimi, based on the fact that Miyako also is empathetic and has an aversion to fighting. And Sora’s completely right, because when Mimi does come into the picture, the similarities -- and differences -- between her and Miyako say a lot about both characters.

When Mimi arrives in Japan in 02 episode 6 (for her cousin’s wedding), she and Miyako immediately get along with each other, and Miyako instantly role-models her, to the point of claiming her as an honorary older sister (despite already having older sisters herself!). It’s not surprising; Mimi and Miyako are both very bright and cheerful people, and Miyako even shares the background of being slightly pampered by her family (although presumably more due to her being the youngest of several siblings). Mimi, for her part, continues her trend of being likeable and fond of pretty much everything (including even her beloved tuna-mayo onigiri that she hadn’t had for so long), and is perfectly happy to be tight with Miyako.

The Digitamamon incident in 02 episode 14, however, adds an extra layer into why Miyako idolizes Mimi so much besides Mimi just being cool in general: Mimi is kind, forgiving, mature, and incapable of holding a grudge -- to the point her pacifistic tendencies kick in even when Digitamamon gets hit by a Evil Spiral and she refuses to fight him, despite him literally starting to beat her up. Again, Mimi came to understand the inevitability of having to fight back in Adventure, but Digitamamon is, to her, a friend who was trying his hardest to turn over a new leaf -- so, naturally, she tries to see if she can appeal to his heart instead. Miyako, on the other hand, is on the opposite extreme -- she’s so judgmental about her poor first impression with Digitamamon that, despite fully knowing well that Evil Spirals cause their victims to lose their ability to have reason, keeps trying to use it as evidence that Digitamamon was a traitor from the get-go.

Considering that the “secondary Digimentals” arc is largely about Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori coming to terms with their deficiencies in their respective traits and aspiring to do better, Miyako unfavorably compares herself to Mimi because Mimi is everything she wants to be and currently isn’t. Unlike Mimi, Miyako is aggressive, in-your-face, occasionally judgmental, belligerent, sometimes insensitive (not by choice), and often shallow, which she fully admits to in this episode. Of course, the reason Miyako gets the Digimental of Purity (Mimi’s trait) is because she hates this about herself -- even in 02 episode 31, she gives herself no shortage of grief for her foot-in-mouth syndrome and the fact she’s not as “kind” of a person she wants to be, and she herself is also fundamentally devoid of malice, just quick to jump to conclusions and a bit sidetracked by first impressions. (After all, Mimi was guilty of being accidentally insensitive when she called Palmon lacking in taste back in Adventure; the point is that when both of them do it, they really don’t mean badly, and end up sorry for it later.)

But that’s a story for another post about Miyako; more importantly, the reason Miyako is harsh on herself about this in this episode is that, in many ways, she’s everything Mimi is not, because Mimi is empathetic and mature and polite and never steps on anyone’s toes.

02 episode 25 gives us more to work with; first of all, she’s depicted in yet another completely different hair and fashion style (which she brings up another of during the winter season), and her drastic shifts in style indicate more of her “open-mindedness”; she’s open to trying out tons of new things and is willing to like just about anything. More importantly, however, she turns out to be completely open-minded about recruiting Ken to help out, even though she’s well aware of what he’d done as the Kaiser (and, again, Miyako sees her ability to be forgiving as something to look up to). Because, again, Mimi doesn’t hold a grudge; she doesn’t send anything accusatory or forceful to Ken, but simply believes that he should be given the chance to know what’s going on and help out if he so chooses, which becomes key to Miyako herself also choosing to accept Ken at the end of the episode.

Given that Mimi is portrayed as so open-minded towards trying all sorts of things, it’s probably no surprise that her “career” in Kizuna is so different from what we eventually know she’ll be doing in the epilogue -- instead of her cooking show, we see her running an online shopping business. After all, with her being so open-minded about wanting to do potentially anything, it’s very like her to "dabble” in a few different experimental things before (or perhaps “without”!) settling for something. What we know about this business is also quite on brand for her; her business specializes in “cute” (her preferred aesthetic, which she also shamelessly dresses in), and she’s established as setting up business all over the world to the point she has to constantly travel. Presumably, her natural charisma made it easy for her to set up connections.

Interestingly, her website profile also omits any discussion of any kind of university or other post-secondary education, implying that, unlike the others, she chose to dive directly into her career after high school. Again, it’s quite like her to find something she wanted to do and pursue it the moment it was in front of her -- no matter what it is, as long as it’s interesting.

Mimi’s largest amount of focus in regards to the movie is in To Sora, where she’s seen checking in on Sora after noticing she hasn’t been in the group chat in a while -- again, as someone constantly empathetic to how her friends are doing, it’s natural that she’s the one who catches on and decides she needs to check in. As someone who loves uplifting and supporting her friends first and foremost, she happens to be fully aware of what everyone’s currently up to (compare how Taichi had to be actively updated on Sora and Takeru’s status from Yamato in the movie proper), and also provides nothing but positive supportiveness to Sora’s troubles during their conversation -- as usual, always respectful and polite, and never condescending.

And, of course, she naturally empathizes with Sora having hesitation about fighting -- both because she’s been busy herself, but also because she, of course, understands exactly how it feels for fighting to be emotionally taxing -- and declares that she’ll support Sora with whatever she does, just like how she found her own path back in Adventure by choosing to contribute by bringing people together instead of fighting. She makes do on this promise as well, considering that she keeps up with supporting Sora during her exhibition.

By the time of the 02 epilogue, Mimi has decided to change tracks entirely and go for cooking, which, while being very different, is also very on-brand. This time, the part about “cooking” is something that comes from her family, since, after all, experimental cooking (...of some kind) was something Satoe got the whole family to embrace. The exact nature of her job is literally “culinary researcher”, which is a Japanese catch-all to refer to the sort of “food critic” who experiments with food and writes extensively (or, in this case, runs a TV show) about different ways you can enjoy and put together food, which also goes in mind with her streak of “open-mindedness”. The common point is, really, that everything Mimi does comes out of positivity, supportiveness, and love.

#digimon #digimon adventure #digimon adventure 02 #digimon adventure last evolution kizuna #tachikawa mimi #mimi tachikawa #kizuna spoilers #shihameta

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dutchforstrangers · 3 years ago

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Digimon Astrology Journey - 'Head first' buddies: Koushiro & Taichi

So I’m back with some headcanon Digimon Astrology and I’m diving into it head first! Something fierce leader Taichi would do, however he needs his loyal ‘brains’ there with him and that will be Koushiro. Where Koushiro is a thinker, analytical in every way due to his pragmatic Sun and Rising, Taichi is one of action due to his Moon and Rising (and Mars!). However don’t underestimate them, they have some serious airy energy going on, making them vocal, diplomatic and charming in their own individual ways.

These boys are so different, yet work together very well. They just have a hard time… talking to others or each other about… the complicated, personal specific stuff feelings. Must be the stars, right?

It’s been a while, but you can read back all things Astrology (basics, background, etc.) in previous posts Part 1 | Part 2. Furthermore, exploring Taichi and Koushiro’s birth charts is part 2 of this series, you can read the exploration of Sora and Mimi’s birth charts here.

The important stuff

Koushiro Izumi, August 26th 1989 (around 05.30AM)

Sun: Virgo (earth-mutable)

Moon: Gemini (air-mutable)

Rising: Virgo (earth-mutable)

Taichi Yagami, October 15th 1988 (around 5PM)

Sun: Libra (air-cardinal)

Moon: Sagittarius (fire-mutable)

Rising: Aries (fire-cardinal)

Warning: IT’S VERY LONG! I’m sorry in advance…

A little disclaimer before I start rambling: These are headcanons! Their given birthdays are not canon at all, but just me having fun combining my love for Digimon and my love for Astrology. It can be highly self-indulging, but maybe you can find some truth in it as well! If you want to know how I calculated their birthdays, read my previous posts as stated above. I use these birthdays in my own fanfiction, but feel free to use them as well. Some credit in the form of a reblog, like or mention of these posts and/or my Tumblr would be highly appreciated! See something you want to discuss? I love to learn and talk! As said these are my headcanons, but I’m not afraid to change my mind or to defend what I have if necessary.

Everything charts and the why under read more!

Koushiro Izumi - August 26th 1989

Assigning the Virgo Sun to this boy was the first thing I did, because I myself am convinced Koushiro Izumi is the embodiment of a true Virgo. I could be wrong, as I did not study Astrology and am a simple hobbyist, but everything I read about Virgos always lead me back to this particular maroon headed anime dork for years now. Hence why I gave him the same Sun and Rising sign, because Koushiro is who he is. Anyway, let me try to convince you.

For starters, here are a few (or actually all the) things about Virgos in general, for both Sun and Rising. Virgos are bright, practical, pragmatic, orderly, respectful, critical, perfectionists, security driven, communicative, tidy, nervous, detail-oriented… Can I stop already? Okay, now pick one of the above and tell me it’s not fitting for Koushiro.

…

Hm, I know. It’s hard, isn’t it?

Maybe his tidiness is questionable depending on the situation… But the guy is orderly and the chaos only exists in times when his perfectionism takes over. The nervous part from the Virgo can be seen in shyness or even being obedient. All of that makes Koushiro a dedicated friend who would do anything in his power to make everything work for you. Danger is that he will efface himself, thinking he’s not worth as much as the others. This is what happens in Adventure episode 28 right after he solved the card riddle. On the top left corner either the Agumon or the Gomamon is right, but he doesn’t know which one and he apologizes, which is not necessary at all, with: “I’m sorry I couldn’t live up to your expectations,” which is such a Virgo Sun/Rising thing to say..! The Virgo dynamic is alive and kicking.

It’s even more alive and kicking in his other strong Virgo placements: Mercury and Mars. With Mercury in Virgo, Mercury is in it’s sign of its rulership, making it a strong placement. And precisely that planet is the planet of thoughts and knowledge! The combination of his Sun, Rising, Mercury and Mars in Virgo makes him be, engage, think and act like a true Virgo. Detail-oriented, thoughtful, respectful, orderly, practical and curious!

The hardest part for his birthday calculation was his Moon placement. The Moon is all about emotions, needs, wants, behavior, responds, et cetera. I first gave him a Capricorn Moon, but my boyfriend is such a Cap Moon and it didn’t fit the bill for Koushiro in my opinion. So I read and searched and eventually came to the conclusion it had to be an Air sign Moon, simply for the fact that our boy Koushiro is the bearer of the crest of Knowledge and Air signs can be seen as the intellectual ones of the Zodiac! Eventually I went for the Gemini Moon and I’m going to explain why exactly.

One could say Gemini is the bearer of Knowledge just as much as Koushiro is. Gemini LOVE to know things! They are naturally curious and are great communicators, when it comes to knowledge (pun warning if you’ve seen the reboot: they love to bring joy to their knowledge). Gemini tend to be a bit superficial when it comes to having and sharing knowledge and of course we know that’s not the case with our Koushiro here, due to his many Virgo placements, making him more observant and inward. What the Gemini Moon DOES to him is making this boy very talkative! He likes to spill what’s on his mind, he likes to share what he thinks, he likes to ramble and rant. It’s something we see him doing in Tri a lot, especially that one scene in Reunion part 3 (episode 3) where he keeps on rambling about all the strange events and he misses the first part of the conversation between the other DigiDestineds (about the news and Jyou’s ‘girlfriend’ poor guy no one believes him). Koushiro misses the conversation because a) his Gemini Moon likes to ramble and keep rambling, and b) because his Virgo placements can make him a bit unaware of his surroundings quite the time…

That’s not a bad thing per se, Koushiro is just very much focused on his work and d e t a i l s, which is a VERY Virgo-ish trait. But lets not forget that his priority is to help others with that knowledge and that the combination of his Virgo placements with his Gemini Moon makes him a great mentor. Brings me to his role throughout the entirety of Adventure 02: The Mentor. You’re welcome.

Another Gemini Moon thingy is rudeness. Now we know Koushiro is the most polite person out of ALL DD’s, always using honorifics, even saying Hikari-san instead of Hikari-chan, because Koushiro IS respect. But Koushiro is not afraid to tell you what’s at stake in times of ‘danger’, he’s not afraid to tell the truth. There are a few examples for that in Adventure, Adventure 02 and in Tri, but I’d like to refer to one of my favorite moments in whole Digimon Adventure history. Because Koushiro x rudeness brings me back to Diaboromon strikes back when he’s obviously so done with everyone, then Mimi enters the scene and he doesn’t even care. In the English dub she literally says “How rude”. Ooooohhh Koushiro, you little rude demon… It’s not the biggest proof it’s a simple one and my personal favorite.

All of the talkativeness and rudeness is something we mostly see Koushiro doing when he’s most comfortable. So we won’t see him being all talkative all the time -sharing more than just plain, superficial knowledge and instead more personal helpful knowledge- with everyone, but we do see him being talkative and speaking up to certain characters he’s most comfortable with. Now name one boy he’s very talkative to compared with literally all the other characters… You know what? Scroll down.

Last thing and then I’ll stop rambling about this beautiful and lovely nerd. His Venus, planet of values (and love…) is in Libra. What does that mean? Well, I’ve seen quite some fans type Koushiro as a bi-sexual, or something in that direction. Or even better a ‘disaster bi-sexual’. I already agreed on that, but when I saw this birth chart… IT’S (HEAD)CANON! Seriously, Libra is the zodiac sign of doubt, decision making (or actually no decision making, but I’ll get there with the next boy) and relationships and if you have your Venus placed in Libra you’re doomed to be a disaster when it comes to making decisions in your love life both romantically and platonically! Venus in Libra creates the desire for a good and loving relationships, but Koushiro’s Virgo Sun/Rising makes him more shy, his Virgo Mars makes him hold back. Once again, the Virgo Sun/Rising-Libra Venus dynamic lets him efface himself in relationships, thinking they have nothing to offer, but they have!! And so Koushiro gets left behind with his unresolved feelings… the boy has a hard time in love, let’s give him all a hug!

Taichi Yagami - October 15th 1988

The protagonist. Okay, let me compare this goggle headed protagonist to another goggle headed protagonist outside the Digimon franchise: Naruto. This is probably more interesting to people who have watched and know Naruto, so you can skip the part. To me Naruto is the classical protagonist type; bold, adventurous, playful, (a little) obnoxious at some times, hot headed… These are traits we easily assign to fire signs in the zodiac, especially Aries. So I would immediately give Naruto the Aries Sun placement. However, when we see Naruto grow up, his behavior and the way he speaks and leads grows up with him as well. That’s only natural. And based on those changes I wouldn’t necessarily give Naruto the Aries Sun placements, although the Aries placement or another fire placement is very likely to be present in his chart.

Now I could go even further, explain the development from child to adult through Jung’s theory about cognitive functions, but that’s incredibly complicated and a looooong stretch I won’t be making here today. In short, Jung’s development theory is interesting, because it shows how we first see the obvious traits in a child which are the traits the child engages (Rising sign) the world with before it develops the other functions showing the person’s true identity (Sun sign). So we could say we first see someone’s Rising sign more clearly before the Sun comes shining through. Like with Naruto. And the same could be for Taichi in the case of this headcanon.

To tackle his birth chart and big three, I’ll be starting with explaining his Rising Sign before his Sun sign. And the Rising sign I assigned him is Aries Rising.

Like I said above, Aries is bold, adventurous, playful and above all: courageous. Especially the Aries Rising placement which is more courageous than its Aries Sun counterpart. Aries are born leaders, can be extremely competitive, are somewhat restless and desperately need to move. In Taichi’s case with the above birth chart, that urge to move is magnified by his Aries Mars placement. The dynamic of his Aries Rising and Aries Mars makes Taichi a mover, an adventurer, and incredibly determined. This could be both positively, always wanting the best (especially for yourself, as Aries is a pretty selfish sign), and a tad negatively, always going and going and going. In the Adventure series this could be the reason why he makes Greymon dark-evolve, because he wants things too bad and too fast. Aries are hot headed and can grow impatient if things don’t go the way they want. And the Aries Rising and Mars dynamic makes Taichi a very physical guy. Mix that with the impatience and he is not afraid to pick fights and use his fists.

All of this can make Taichi a very stormy and reckless boy (boundaries? What’s that?), but also a fearless leader. The exuberance, the impatience and restlessness comes back in his Sagittarius Moon placement as well. This Sag Moon in combination with his strong Aries placements in Rising and Mars makes Taichi a sportive, physical, optimistic and forward leader that is incredibly courageous and adventurous, which could make him a bit ‘superficial’ as a protagonist. But the Sag Moon also deepens and strengthens his leader skills.

Sagittarius is a sign pictured by a centaur with an arrow and bow. The centaur’s horse legs make the Sag want to move and be free, but the arrow aims in a clear direction and aiming takes knowledge and focus. Sagittarius thus is an adventurous fella, but also a philosopher. Taichi’s Sag Moon placement makes him a pro in seeing the bigger picture and connecting dots next to his never ending energy. He will make sure we’re going in the right direction by overlooking the whole situation. So we absolutely shouldn’t forget Taichi is a true strategist! He sees, understands what’s at stake in a situation, connects the dots, comes with a strategy and like a true leader knows his team and can place everyone in his right spot to get through the toughest of situations (once again referring to Taichi asking Koushiro to pick the cards in Adventure episode 28). Speaking about a great leader, gosh, Taichi, you’re truly amazing! <3

However, it’s his Aries Rising and Mars that often make him act before he thinks, preferably alone (Taichi is a teamplayer, but the selfish and reckless Aries in him makes him act alone. And the sum of teamplayer + acting alone = self-sacrifice mode… which happens ALL THE DAMN TIME). Or actually makes him act while thinking without doing a short reflection beforehand. Seriously, I’m convinced that this reflection in advance could have saved him a lot of trouble throughout Digimon Adventure. Let’s blame it on (t)his (headcanon) birth chart…

Also, all of the above vouches for Taichi having an amazing intellect, but the guys needs to be challenged… Hence why he’s always staring out of the window during classes in Tri, daydreaming away to where the adventure is. He feels trapped, needs to be outside and should use his intelligence for things he finds important (like saving the digital world, soccer and saving friends and the world). The daydreaming could also be his Libra Mercury who can make Taichi lose his focus and could make him lazy. Luckily Taichi has a very active Aries Mars in opposite aspect from his Libra Mercury that neutralizes that lazy and dreamy Libra Mercury.

Okay, back to topic. Now you maybe think: But if Taichi is good in knowing where to go, being the fearless leader, also an intellect who has the knowledge to aim straight and shoot… then WHY is he so lost, down and in doubt in Tri and so unknowing of his future in Kizuna…??!! I have an answer to that. And that answer is his Libra Sun.

I know I know, this is a very VERY unpopular Sun sign to give this goggle leader, but please hear me out. For starters, Libra is the sign of diplomacy and if we believe the 02’s epilogue what’s Taichi’s job? Right, a diplomat. We also know he studies something like political sciences in Kizuna (which I think is AMAZING and vouches even more for Taichi’s intellect! Politics is a tough study…) and to make it in the political field you really do need diplomacy and charms.

Taichi is an absolute charmer, in my eyes at least. I mean, look at his 02 self! He’s such a smooth charmer in every way… The way he sends off Sora to Yamato while acting all cool and collected, phew, that requires some serious smoothness. And still we often see Taichi depicted as a down and broody boy besides his energetic and bold (sometimes indifferent…) character, especially after Tri. That too could be due to a Libra Sun placement.

Like Sagittarius is depicted by a centaur, Libra is depicted by scales and those scales are all about harmony, balance and justice. Libra is the opposite of Aries in the zodiac, but also about weighing opposites in the sigh itself. When we look at the Aries/Libra opposite placement: where Aries can be quite selfish, Libra as an opposite is the people’s pleaser. Where Aries is reckless and impatient, Libra is thoughtful and patient and one could say that an Aries acts where a Libra waits. Where Aries makes the impulsive decisions, Libra keeps deliberating leading into constant doubt and confusion. And how do we see Taichi in Tri? Ah yes, in doubt and confused.

A Libra Sun desperately wants to bring peace and harmony, driven by justice, in a diplomatic way. Libra Suns are deep thinkers which can make them very doubtful, making them spiraling down into a hole of overthinking and doubts. The Libra Sun-Sag Moon dynamic makes this all even more deep and almost philosophical in a way there will always be more and more questions, but never answers because Libra simply can’t make choices. All while being solution-oriented!

As Taichi grows up from a middle schooler to a high schooler, it’s that doubt coming from the Libra Sun that kicks Taichi hard. It conflicts with his carefree and bold Aries Rising nature and as that Libra Sun comes shining through, we see Taichi becoming more cautious and reserved compared to his younger self. The guy has a strong inner dialogue always looking for the best solutions to please everyone and bring harmony (I wanted to say ‘balance to the world’, yes to all the avatar the last airbender cameos) to the people and world(s in case of the digital world) around him he so desperately wants to protect. This is what we see happening in Tri, where he can’t choose what’s the right thing… Most of the time that inner dialogue is hidden behind his Aries Rising (and Aries Mars and Sag Moon).

So under that tough and courageous Aries Rising demeanor (remember that a Rising sign is all about engaging and how you come across to others) is a very soft, sweet, friendly and overall smart Libra Sun boy who has troubles expressing himself because the boy is in conflict with himself (which we see in the Dark Master’s arc in Adventure where he expresses his concerns towards his sister to Koushiro… it’s so hard for Taichi to let it all out, even when he needs it badly). It’s so sad, he’s such a complicated character, but that’s also one of the most beautiful things about Taichi. He’s layered af. He could be the best listener (Koushiro’s feels this, that’s why Koushiro can talk so open and freely to Taichi, because Taichi lets him thank you Libra Sun) if it weren’t for his strong fire placements opposite from his airy Sun sign. But give the boy time and space and he can show you his charms in a way no one else owns those charms.

So Taichi’s Libra Sun is hidden away most of the time due to his strong Aries placements. Usually his Rising and Sun sign being in opposite aspect from each other, should neutralize the placements, but Taichi’s Aries Mars placement makes the Aries Rising overrule the Libra Sun. Still, we shouldn’t forget Taichi is a softy with a big heart. He just needs the right people around him to get his charm on and Taichi definitely has some great people collected in his life who can help him think and make decisions.

A few things I want to point out before I stop rambling, because this analysis is already WAY too long.

Taichi’s midheaven in Capricorn in combination with his Libra Sun and Aries Rising makes him very ambitious on the intellectual side! Directly aiming for the UN and quickly climbing up the promotion ladder (and being successful like a true Cap, let’s not forget that).

His Mars was in transition from Pisces to Aries during his birth. Which means his Aries Mars is highly influenced by Pisces which could also explain why he spirals down as Pisces Mars has a lot of stormy energy on the emotional side (whereas Aries Mars has stormy energy on the physical side). When this emotional energy comes out negative, it can lead to mental health problems (!!! TRI DEPRESSED!TAICHI), especially when close friends and family (can you feel it coming? The whole Hikari-trauma is a thing) are involved.

His Libra Sun makes him in need of a group of friends and he loves being surrounded by them! Though he doesn’t like to admit that due to his Aries Rising. Taichi is such a conflicted boy…

An end note on these two boys: A heart to heart/hard friendship with a lot of mutual understanding and support <3

#DFS Digimon Astrology Journey #head-first buddies #Koushiro Izumi #Taichi Yagami #Digimon #Koushiro #Taichi #Izzy Izumi #Tai Kamiya #Izzy #Tai #Astrology #Reference post #Digimon adventure #Digimon tri #Digimon kizuna #Digimon adventure: 2020 #LONG POST.#Digimon headcanons

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god-fucking-dammit-mizutani · 3 years ago

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Do you think Koushiro would ever change honorifics and call him Taichi-chan?

Ohhh I'd lean towards probably not personally because it's Koushirou and I think he'd like. combust at the mere thought. Maybe once? in private? With a lot of goading??

#Like I imagine he never even really drops the -san #like on some occasions but. rarely.#just 'cause it's Koushirou and he's polite and it kinda feels like an endearment already somehow??#But idk the -chan would be a super special occasion? idk omg #who wrote 'he'd maybe drop the -san for the wedding only'#was that on tumblr or somewhere else #I laugh about that a lot #digimon is a fun series #winged-wolf-dreamer #shut up lala #replies

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lightchildofthespring · 4 years ago

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This fic takes place in the universe of Digimon Adventure Psi (or Digimon Adventure 2020) and shows how Koushiro met Tentomon. I'm using my hc that Koushiro was a bit old when his biological parents died.

Alone in the world

Koushiro recognized that landscape immediately. He had seen those colorful forms and sparks when he first had contact with the network space, back when Taichi had gone there for the first time. However, the older boy was nowhere nearby. Koushiro found himself alone in that world.

“Taichi-san!” Koushiro called, wandering through that strange place. A cold wind sent chills down his neck. “Taichi-san, where are you?” he insisted, getting increasingly desperate. “Please, answer me! Taichi-san!”

Was he really alone there?

A sensation he had tried to bury for years was reemerging. Once again he could hear, in the back of his mind, the whispers from those people, who were too sure a grieving child couldn't listen to them during his parents' ceremony.

“That poor helpless kid!”

“It's so sad!”

“He has no family anymore.”

“He's all alone now.”

“Alone in the world.”

Koushiro was surprised when he saw the teardrops falling on his tablet. He was clutching the object against his chest, as if afraid of losing it. The boy knew he had done that many times before. Maybe that was a silly fear, but it was still overwhelming. It probably lingered from that great loss he once suffered.

He wiped his tears with the back of a hand and faced forward. Koushiro wasn't a helpless child. Taichi had told him that he had been helpful, that he had been useful. He had to believe in his friend's words. Koushiro just needed to keep his calm and think. There had to be something he could do.

“It's going to be alright,” the boy told himself.

“Of course it is! Don't worry!” a voice suddenly said behind him, startling the child.

Koushiro turned around quickly and saw a huge ladybug hovering a couple of meters away from him. The insect was staring at the child.

“Hi, there! I'm Tentomon!” the monster greeted. “I saw you and thought you were lost. So, I'm here to help!”

“Tentomon...?” Koushiro repeated that name in low voice, studying the other. “Are you a digimon...?”

“Yes, of course I am!” Tentomon confirmed. “What are you? You don't look like a digimon.”

“I'm a human being, I came from a different world. My name is Izumi Koushiro, nice to meet you!” Koushiro introduced himself, bowing slightly.

“Izumi Koushiro-han...” Tentomon said, “Izumi-han... Koushiro-han! That's it! Koushiro-han sounds better! I'm going to call you that!”

The boy was about to say that the digimon didn't need to address him with a honorific, but a question made its way to his lips before he could think it through:

“Is that Kansai dialect?”

“What is Kansai, Koushiro-han?”

“Ehr... never mind that...” the boy muttered, trying to come up with a theory for the monster to talk like that without ever being in Japan. Then, another concern rose in his mind, which led him to begin to ask:

“Excuse me, uhm... Tentomon-san...? Have you seen-”

“I don't like the sound of that at all!” Tentomon interrupted. “Don't call me with 'san,' please!”

“S-Sorry!” Koushiro hurried to say. “If you don't like 'san'... should I call you 'Tentomon-kun,' then?”

“That sounds even worse!” Tentomon complained. “Just call me by my name alone.”

Koushiro felt blood rushing to his face. When talking to someone, he always used a honorific. To drop it, especially with someone he had just met, felt too audacious for him. However, he couldn't insist on using honorifics if doing that upset the other.

“If that's what you want, then I'll respect your wishes, Tentomon,” Koushiro said in low voice. Hopefully, he would soon get used to calling him that and stop feeling awkward about the lack of honorific.

“Thank you, Koushiro-han!” Tentomon exclaimed.

“You don't have to use honorifics with me,” Koushiro told him.

“But I really want to call you 'Koushiro-han,' and you said you would respect my wishes!” Tentomon contested.

Koushiro thought that he couldn't argue with that kind of logic. The boy felt it was unfair that he had to drop honorifics while Tentomon wasn't willing to do it, but decided that it was best to let that slide.

“So, Koushiro-han, you were looking for someone, right?” Tentomon asked.

“Yes! I'm looking for another human being!” Koushiro confirmed. “His name is Yagami Taichi-san. He's taller than me and has big brown hair. Have you seen him?”

“I haven't seen anyone around, besides you,” Tentomon told him. “I could help you to look for him. This Taichi-han is older than you, right?”

“Yes, how did you know?” the boy asked.

“It was just wishful thinking, actually,” Tentomon said. “I was worried when I saw a little kid like you all alone, so I hoped that there was someone out there to take care of you.”

“T-That's not...” Koushiro mumbled, shaking with embarrassment. “Taichi-san doesn't take care of me!”

“Does he treat you badly?” Tentomon had a worried voice.

“No, of course not!” Koushiro denied. “He's a wonderful person! Taichi-san is kind and encouraging! The way he smiles at you... and his way of talking that makes you feel...”

the boy lost himself in his memories of his friend and had to be taken back to reality by Tentomon.

“He sounds like a good friend who takes care of you!” the digimon exclaimed.

“I-It's not like that! I mean, Taichi-san has done a lot for me and many other people... he does amazing things... but I helped him too, he told me that I helped him! I got to be useful... I wasn't just...”

Fragments from his past echoed in his mind. He remembered the day he had met Mr. And Mrs. Izumi. Back then, how fiercely was he clutching that tablet against his chest?

“You don't have to be scared, Koushiro. You don't need to worry about anything.”

“We will take care of you now.”

Koushiro felt his eyes getting warm as those memories returned, but refused to cry. Crying had never helped him, it had never returned anything he had lost. It would be just bothersome for other people if he were to cry in front of them.

“Then, you take care of each other! That's how friends should be!” Tentomon said, excitedly.

Koushiro was taken aback by that statement, but wasn't bothered by it. The idea that he was capable of doing something for the sake of others filled his heart with joy.

“Say, Koushiro-han, what's that thing that you're holding?” Tentomon asked, pointing to the tablet that Koushiro had in his arms.

“It's a tablet that I can also use as a computer,” Koushiro explained. “I use it to analyze data and it helps me to communicate...”

Only then the boy realized that he could've contacted Taichi a long time ago and felt like the dumbest person alive.

“I... I can actually talk to Taichi-san and ask where he is...” Koushiro muttered, embarrassed, “I had forgotten about it...”

“You can talk to him? That's great!” Tentomon sounded excited. “After you talk to him, I can take you to where your friend is.”

“You don't have to go through that much trouble because of me,” Koushiro tried to dissuade the digimon. He didn't know how far away Taichi was or how long it would take to find him. It wasn't fair to inconvenience Tentomon that way.

“Don't worry, it's not like I have anything better to do, anyway!” Tentomon assured him. “Besides, I like talking to you. It's going to be a fun trip because I enjoy your company!”

“You... enjoy my company...?” Koushiro asked, in disbelief. The boy tried to remember if anyone had ever said such a thing to him before.

“You sound like a very intelligent person and you're also very polite. You seem to care very much for other people, which I find admirable,” Tentomon told him. “I like you a lot already, Koushiro-han!”

The sensation born from that statement was warmer than what he felt when he was able to be useful to someone. I'm not a bother... I'm not bothering him... Koushiro thought. He couldn't begin to describe the deep happiness that was engulfing him.

Koushiro found a spot to sit and then contacted Taichi. He was surprised to see that Sora from the summer camp was with the other boy, but was glad that his friend wasn't alone.

Then, Koushiro realized that the other kids couldn't be alone because they had digimon with them. He wondered if Tentomon could be to him what Agumon was to Taichi. Koushiro felt that was an audacious thought. Tentomon was probably just a nice digimon willing to help him out of kindness. It wouldn't be the first time he found people like that. However, Koushiro wished that wasn't the case.

Like he had done when he lost his parents, Koushiro wished he didn't have to be alone in that big and strange world.

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