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ladyanatui · 5 years

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Feb. 14: Favorite ship/OTP

This is the easiest question you could’ve ever asked.

There’s no contest.

DAISUKE & KEN

Maybe Definitely Soulmates

Look at the pretty image compilation by @/reliablejoukido.

Considering I’ve talked extensively about Daiken on multiple occasions, as have many others, I’ll try to keep this short and simple.

So.

The Important Parts

Daisuke and Ken were literally designed as complements. I mentioned this in one of my earlier posts, but 02 is composed of Odd Couples and Daisuke and Ken are the Red Oni and Blue Oni specifically. Their personalities, as well as their physical appearances, were designed to complement each other.

Jogress evolution requires the partners to understand each other on a deep, spiritual level, but no one--not even Taichi and Yamato--does so with as much depth as Daisuke and Ken. Seriously, they hear each other’s heartbeats. They’re the only Jogress partners to experience that, and it doesn’t help that Jogress sounds remarkably like sex--and it’d be pretty damn funny if it worked the other way too.

They work in perfect sync, even before they’re proper friends. This is why their Jogress comes so easily to them and why they become such good friends.

Even when he’s the Kaiser, Ken hyper-focuses on Daisuke in a way that is very foe yay. He is particularly interested in defeating him specifically; the others matter far less.

Daisuke has a crush the moment he meets Ken, and he is unreasonably happy that the great Ichijouji Ken remembers his name.

Once Ken becomes good, Daisuke is the one who believes in him and invites him to join the team, even though the others aren’t on board yet. Ken isn’t ready to join them yet because he doesn’t think he deserves their forgiveness, but Daisuke’s unwavering faith in him is an essential part of his healing process.

Daisuke understood Ken’s kindness the moment he touched the Digimental of Miracles. But even after he joins the team, everyone else is continually surprised by Ken and continually underestimates him. Meanwhile, Daisuke’s just sitting over here going, “But wait, he’s always been like this!”

And it works both ways...

Ken understands Daisuke on a fundamental level as well, and he believes in him in a way none of the others ever do. He understands that Daisuke is a team player above all else, and he never thinks Daisuke is stupid or selfish or simple.

When Ken struggles, Daisuke is the one who can always get through to him. This is, of course, because of their deep connection. He talks him down from what is essentially suicide, and he gives him the strength to fight the darkness and defeat Demon.

But Ken helps Daisuke too, even though it’s not shown as explicitly. It’s pretty obvious that Daisuke has low self-esteem, especially at the beginning of the show. He has no real friends and doesn’t even really understand what friendship means. It’s not until Ken that he really begins to mellow out and properly understand what it means to be a friend, and Ken’s complete faith in him is definitely good for his self-esteem.

Daisuke functions entirely as Ken’s knight in shining armor, and when Ken goes with Oikawa and gets his Dark Seed scanned to put in the kidnapped children, he calls for Daisuke’s aid before his own Digimon partner’s. And when Ken and Wormmon are stuck in Tamachi without the ability to evolve because of the Dark Towers, Daisuke forsakes all other duties to go help him.

Ken is Daisuke’s weak spot. Throughout the show, Daisuke remains strong and confident despite his issues, but the moment Ken starts to break down, Daisuke practically begs him to stop because he won’t be able to be strong and defeat BelialVamdemon if Ken falls apart.

They literally stay up at night thinking about each other. Think about that.

Daisuke is very obviously bisexual. Ken’s sexuality is far less obvious because he’s a subtle person, but the blushing is pretty telling.

Just the way they look at each other in general. It doesn’t get cuter than this. In fact, they’re constantly looking at each other in the promo art as well.

All of these pictures. Just look at them.

They have the cutest Christmas duet ever. Seriously, listen to it and read the lyrics.

Literally all of Diablomon Strikes Back. It’s just a giant Daiken marathon, and it’s the most beautiful thing.

Okay, and as a final note, one of the most important things is how Daisuke and Ken refer to each other throughout the series. This video does a great job summing it up, but basically, it’s this:

Daisuke is not big on honorifics in general and only uses them for Ken before he knows that he’s the Kaiser. Even after Ken’s good, he calls him Ichijouji, no honorifics, and it isn’t that long before he just switches to plain Ken. And that’s a big deal. Using someone’s first name without applying an honorific requires a deep, intimate relationship, though some younger people are less likely to use honorifics in general these days.

As for Ken, he’s much more formal than Daisuke, and for the longest time, he refers to him as Motomiya-kun. After a while, he drops the honorific and just refers to him as Motomiya, even though he refers to all the other Chosen Children by their first names (with honorifics). This shows that Daisuke is a special case--he uses his family name in a sort of act of reverence, he’s being respectful. And when Ken finally does call Daisuke by his first name (without honorifics, though he continues to use them with everyone else), it is decidedly more meaningful. But even after he calls him Daisuke, he reserves that for when they are in private and continues to call him Motomiya in front of other people. That is one hell of a distinction.

And yeah...

I said I was going to keep this short and then I didn’t.

So...sorry?

I guess I’ll finish up by promoing a few things:

I have a series of posts about my enormous Daiken playlist that goes into even more detail than this.

We have a Daiken Discord server if you wanna join.

And I write Daiken fanfiction on AO3.

Because.

Let’s be real, Digimon has always been about the Goggle Boy and his Emo Boyfriend. That’s it. That’s the show.

#kizunacountdown #daiken #daisuke motomiya #ken ichijouji #digimon #digimon 02 #otp #valentine's day #daiken holds my heart and soul #these boys are the best boys #digimon adventure last evolution kizuna #last evolution kizuna #digimon last evolution #last evolution #anatui #anatui rants

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virtualenemypersona-blog · 7 years

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Oozora Yuujin: Double Standard in Digimon/Appmon Fandom

Seriously, why is no one talking about this?

If you watch Tri and Appmon more carefully, you'll find that Oozora Yuujin has pretty much experienced ALL the Tri girls' main problems.

1. Yuujin and Meiko: Being hurt both physically and mentally because of their cute, problematic partners.

But compared to Meiko who can only cry and run, Yuujin (despite his low self-esteem, just like Meiko’s) has guts to stop Shutmon using his own body.

2. Yuujin and Sora: Caring for others while neglecting themselves.

Worse, when they can't solve their own problems by themselves, they will pretend like they can handle everything on their own. At least, Yuujin finally opens up to welcome the others’ help, rather than throws himself into more trouble like Sora does. It's not all Sora's fault, though. Haru and the others are doing it right when they offer Yuujin help. While Taichi and Yamato can only complain and make Sora feel worse (Just imagine if it was Takeru who talked to her. The story would be different).

That being said, Yuujin still ends up diving by himself into danger to save Offmon, and needs Haru and Globemon to rescue them.

3. Yuujin and Hikari: Being possessed by god-like, balance-seeking yet destructive digital entities.

Hikari, while her body is being taken over, still manages to resist Homeostasis from inside. Yuujin? Indeed, he manages to take over half of his body when being controlled, to call Haru’s name. But when Leviathan finally takes full charge of him, he helplessly lets Haru do everything, until Leviathan offers Haru to save the world by killing them both.

4. Yuujin and Mimi: Being alienated in new environments.

We see Mimi get rejected by her new friends for her Daters Cafe, but still able to stay believing in herself and her ideal. While little Yuujin reacts to being rejected (even by someone he barely knows) as if no one would ever want to have him around again. Until Haru comes and helps him through it.

See the similarities and differences now?

This is only my guess, but the writers might intentionally put Yuujin through these "girls problems", to let us see the real Yuujin, which is not as perfect as he seems to be.

But why should "girls problems"? Why not giving him more masculine problems, such as unable to protect younger sibling, rivalry, or being a good leader, like Taichi and Yamato used to struggle with? Doesn't Yuujin resemble those two? An active, popular protagonist-like boy? They still can show Yuujin's flaws through "boys problems", right? So, why should "girls problems"?

I will try to answer this later, but let me get something straight first.

I enjoy Appmon. But I am sick seeing Yuujin being treated by the fandom as Taichi's expy (even after the plot reveals his vulnerability without Haru) just because he plays soccer, is a boy, and is said to be an ideal protagonist, when there is already Sora, whom Yuujin obviously shares more similar traits with, rather than with Taichi.

"But Yuujin can't be Sora's expy! Because Yuujin is portrayed as a popular, active masculine sportsman, and Sora is a girl just too motherly to be compared to one."

Yeah, right. You must forget how Sora was when she was a kid (she even played soccer too, for God’s sake!). And you didn't truly watch how Yuujin and Offmon's interaction went. If Yuujin can't be called as a patient, loving parent that is succeed in bringing up the cowardly Offmon to be a capable fighter, I don't know what he is to Offmon.

I'm not saying that Yuujin should have been a girl, to make his character and this show proper. I'm also not saying that Taichi is better than Yuujin, or the girls. The point is, Taichi is the base character for most Digimon protagonists. And Yuujin, if he was really modeled after Taichi, should have faced those "girls problems" above with much more protagonist-like ways, like Mimi or Hikari does (who are not even the protagonists).

But, nah. Yuujin turns out to be a woobie, fragile distressed damsel. Something that Taichi would never become, but Sora and Meiko would.

And that is NOT a bad thing either. Personally, I never see any characters as bad. If they are written like that, then that's how they are. The only thing that can ruin the characters is either the writers' bad writing, unreasonable inconsistency, or the audience's high expectation. And those, of course, are not the characters' faults (I'm looking at you, 02-Sora).

However, Appmon writers are bunch of talents (or rather, trolls) that trick the audience to think of Yuujin as the Taichi for the un-Taichi-like protagonist: Haru. They also seem to be aware on how the double standard between boys and girls works, and use it to surprise the audience.

Writer A: Let's write a wimpy, shy introverted main character for the new Digimon series Writer B: All right, but sure he would overcome his weakness, take a level in badass, and save the world, right? Writer A: Of course. And that's why he would need “someone special” to be rescued from the baddies. It would mature him dramatically in no time. Writer C: Oh, a love interest! Interesting! *writes Ai-chan* Here she is! What do you say? Writer A: She's cute. But looks boring. Please make another. Writer C: *writes Eri* Here! Another one, but stronger and more confident. She would help the wimpy main character to grow a backbone. Writer A: Is she going to be kidnapped? Writer C: Well, maybe. That's how it usually works, right? Writer A: No, scrap that. It would reduce this show into another chickification trash. The older audience have had enough of that. Writer B: Hey guys, hear me out. Make another one like Eri. Strong, confident, and kind. But this time, change her into a boy. There wouldn't be any chickification if the victim was a boy. The older audience would never expect it either. They might not even realize.

I’ve seen some comments complaining about how Yuujin and Offmon had stolen the spotlight from Haru. But no one seems to ever complain about Yuujin’s “chickification”, which rendered him almost useless in the Ultimate 4 arc and the last arc (except for being Haru’s living emotional crutch and maybe, fetish fuel, as him being crucified under a time bomb, or put into bondage suit while being possessed/mind-controlled, seems to be well-received among his fans).

On the other hand, Eri impressively freeing herself from Knight is considered as a very compelling point that some even regard her as the best DigiGirl ever. If Eri ended up in Yuujin’s position, she would promptly be accused for being another chickification victim, like Sora, Izumi, and Nene.

Appmon cleverly avoids itself from being tagged with chickification trope, by subjecting a boy (Yuujin) to it. And not just a boy. He's (seemed to be)confident, active, kind, brave, protective, patient, one of the chosen ones, able to kick ass, in short: almost perfect protagonist-like boy.

If Yuujin was a girl, in this kind of kids/shonen anime,even with a "weak" protagonist like Haru; admit it.The way how she was treated throughout the series: being so much devoted to a boy, to the level being distressed, kidnapped, possessed, and finally sacrificed for the said boy’s character development, would be a “very annoying, yet unsurprising thing” to see, since Digimon has quite reputation in chickifiying its action girls.

Girl!Yuujin would be deemed as a Mary Sue subjected to the most severe chickification that Digimon series had ever done. No “female Taichi” would ever be tagged to her. Even if she played soccer and wore goggle.

Regardless of the special treatment Yuujin got from the fandom because of his gender, Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters, though might not be the best series, still nails at what it specializes the most. Surprising the audience while staying to be faithful to the plot and the characteristics of its casts.

No one would ever think that Yuujin being broken is the price that Haru has to pay, in order to grow himself as a real protagonist. Most audience might have expected that Yuujin would be Haru's mentor (or at least, rival) since he has already been a “protagonist” from beginning. But haha. Let alone mentoring, Yuujin has been always depending on Haru, like Haru is the whole world to him. Turns out Haru also feels the same way toward Yuujin. But instead of depending on, Haru chooses to be a protagonist (hero) that Yuujin can depend on, to make up for the fact that he can't save him from Leviathan.

Appmon last episode is pretty much an antithesis to what it appears to be in the first episode. "Yuujin the confident hero and Haru the kindhearted side-character" has been flipped to "Yuujin the selfless, sacrificial lamb and Haru the dependable, determined hero".

More impressively, this ending doesn't come out nowhere. Yuujin himself admits that he has always been saved by Haru, both physically and mentally. This pattern is used throughout the series, yet a bit contradicted in the last episode.

In the last arc, the writers makes Haru rise up with determination to save Yuujin as usual, only to be forced to kill him off, in order to stay being a real protagonist and save the world (very cruel scenario, if you ask me).

Last but not least. Yuujin never sees himself as a protagonist, or a hero, or a leader. He is just forced to be seen as one, despite his fragile heart and weak mental, which people tend to shrug off because of his first impression as the polar opposite of the un-Taichi-like protagonist, Haru. And that explains why Yuujin is so easy to be destroyed, unlike Haru.

Yuujin is right. He's no protagonist. Haru is the real protagonist.

@firstagent @shetriestolive @mormon-nerd @jessicastar3 @newworldchild @setokaibaisboss @theanalyzersfanfics @yesyoshiposts @jackpo21 @eternal-angel15 @shadowrocket13 @longroadstonowhere @zzeno @digimumblr @birdboy2000 @adventurechronicles @tanaka04 @djinntotonic @boku-no-yuujin @tokyodirectdiary

@soliloquyer @infamousfj @kiya-minamura @noirharu @navirule @mormon-nerd @bubunet @metalempire @nightglimmer @seregkat @razorsaw @digihopes @digithoughts @appmons @digimonconfessions

#digimon appli monsters #digimon tri #oozora yuujin #yuujin oozora #shinkai haru #haru shinkai #yagami taichi #sora takenouchi #yagami hikari #meiko mochizuki #mimi tachikawa #orimoto izumi #amano nene #appmon #digimon #chickification

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