#also hikari might as well be his friend be serious

[deaduris]

well there’s still a 15 year gap in liam’s life that’s unaccounted for sooo airplanes canon

[seventeenlovesthree]

Digi Dynamic Shipping Game

Send me two names among the following 12 and I’ll write a short analysis post about them:

Taichi Yagami | Yamato Ishida | Sora Takenouchi | Koushirou Izumi | Mimi Tachikawa | Jyou Kidou | Takeru Takaishi | Hikari Yagami | Daisuke Motomiya | Miyako Inoue | Iori Hida | Ken Ichijouji

Whether canon provides input on them or not.

The first Adventure season is very adamant about making sure that the viewer identifies Sora as the "mom/big sister" friend of the group. This becomes mostly apparent when she is consistently protecting and/or taking care of Mimi and Hikari - but also Takeru. As I had pointed out in the post about the family angle between Sora, Yamato and Takeru, the latter functions as a bridge between the broken family dynamics they all appear to have at this point. Since Takeru is the youngest member of the group for the majority of the season, he is the most vocal about Sora basically being a motherly figure - which is even more blatantly stated in the English dub version where he straight up tells her that he doesn't "miss his mom so much" when she is around. And it makes sense that he perceives her that way, considering how she took everyone under their wing, including him, functioning as the voice of reason to prevent the others from fighting - especially when his brother is involved -, supporting them in the back however she could. And since Sora herself is struggling with her own sense of obligation, questioning her intentions and ability to love - is it really surprising that, the moment someone like Takeru finally reassures her, tells her that he likes her and doesn't want her to disappear, she immediately stops crying? Finding her composure again, regaining her positive outlook?

Both Sora and Takeru need validation, this becomes quite clear and is an ongoing theme between them through the course of Adventure - there is a reason why Takeru immediately becomes more serious and determined once Sora (and Taichi too) tells him to take care of and protect Hikari. He craves to be needed, he doesn't want to be a burden and actually being trusted by someone like Sora (and Taichi, again!), someone he greatly admires, is a huge boost for him. Maybe even the central motivation he needed (aside from Yamato's reassurance) to not give up, to "fulfill his responsibility", on his way to let Angemon evolve to HolyAngemon. Just like Takeru's words may have been a little stepping stone for Sora to activate her own Crest as well...

After Adventure, there aren't a lot of visible cues that indicate the same/a bigger level of closeness between these two (even taking into account that Sora and Yamato had been dating through the course of 02), but there are little tidbits here and there that do indicate care between them. It's when Takeru protects her from a Snimon attack in 02 (once again showing that he is responsible and protective!), it's when Sora calls him to ask whether he is okay in Tri (still showing off her caring attitude towards him!)...

One might argue that all of these framings are entirely familial, since there is so much focus on the family angle, especially when you keep the age gap of three years between them in mind. However, the reason why I chose the screenshot(s) above may indicate another meaning after all... Because similarly to my previous Daiora analysis, people tend to mainly focus on Sora's romantic potential with Taichi and Yamato - even though there may be other candidates who are potentially just as - if not more - emotionally compatible with her...

Whether I think why and how they’d work.

A famous callback Tri pulled on Adventure is the awkward silence between Sora, Taichi and Yamato in the fourth movie - mirroring the scene in which Sora runs away from the group, unable to tell them why she wanted to be by herself and why she considers herself "unable to love". In Tri, both Taichi and Yamato are at a loss, they have no idea how to deal with her. When they were still kids, all it took was for Takeru to approach her, thank, reassure and tell her that he "likes" her - which is probably why Yamato's instinct as a teenager at this point seems to be the following: "Shall we ask Takeru?"

Takeru, as opposed to his big band leader brother, has a so called "ladies-man-persona" in Tri, he's got a reputation of having dated several girls and appears to be very friendly with Meiko, much to Hikari's jealousy amusement. However, romance is not Tri's strongest feat - and just like we never learn whether or not Jyou's girlfriend is real, we also don't know what exactly Takeru has been doing all this time. He's famous for wearing a mask consisting of smiles and one may or may not be worried about him developing unhealthy dating habits that never result in long-lasting relationships....... OR we stop assuming the worst and take things at face value for once: Takeru Takaishi is a very kind person at heart, and even if he hides behind a mask, has a very big soft spot for reassuring girls around him.

Do you know who also has a soft spot for reassuring others while hiding their feelings behind a mask at times? Sora Takenouchi. They are both incredibly observant of the people around them and very keen to put them at ease, mostly through words - and just like we have seen above, they NEED that kind of validation. It's why Takeru notices that Sora got a new haircut and points it out to her, whereas his brother hadn't seen it at all. It's why Takeru tries to keep track on everything that is happening, not only because he's on his way to become a novelist, but because he cares and even if he probably still can't be honest about his own feelings - he knows that it doesn't hurt to notice and compliment others, he knows that he can make others feel good by being kind like that. Just like Sora is proooobably aware that her caring nature may not be the healthiest self-care approach, but at least puts smiles on everybody else's faces.

Again, this may not sound like the most stable foundation for a relationship, but I could actually see it working out for them. I'm not saying that I want them to "parent each other", but maybe together, they could reach a state where everything gets a little bit easier. Crying together, opening up to each other about how difficult it had been to always uphold that friendliness because they may have felt responsible, even if there were moments when they both would just have wanted to curse and scream... They both love their friends dearly, but may crave to allow themselves a shoulder to lean on. From someone who understands the struggles. I think it could be a great lesson for both of them as consenting adults, trying to live their own lives - having Sora tell Takeru that he doesn't always have to be the strong one to keep everyone together, that he is loved for who he is and that he won't be left again (because his abandonment issues may still be pretty strong). And simultaneously having Takeru tell Sora that she needs to look in the mirror to realize that she deserves to be loved for who she is as well (especially because her flight instinct might still be pretty strong). And that she deserves someone who actually TELLS her that...

Whether I’d prefer them as platonic or romantic ship.

I had thought about Takeru as analogy to Yamato before, simply because he is so much more vocal towards Sora. And while the age gap and mother angle may make things a little bit difficult and even though I had never thought too deeply about the romantic side of Sokeru... I can understand why they used to have their niche here on tumblr. Art of Takeru protecting Sora for once ("I am not a kid anymore!"), art of him letting loose in front of her... The appeal is definitely there and I am a big fan of mutually reassuring ships, so while I usually go for them platonically, I do have a bit of a fondness for their romantic potential now! So it would be nice to see how their relationship may pan out in canon in "the future".

[digitalgate02]

[main post about the Rider AU] [the tag tho]

Rider AU's main cast [1/8] - Rui

Alright so, I wanted to post them all together + Daisuke casual/Rider form fully but yeah. I’m doing it at a slow pace as the ideas come in. So I did Rui-kun first. (Y'all know I'd do him next)

⚠ Please avoid commenting about the canon, especially about 02TB movie in this post. Some people haven't watched it yet!! Please respect them!

So Rider AU Rui-kun had been friends with Daisuke since he started preschool. A tragic incident resulted in him hurting his right eye, also in losing his parents. No one knows what happened to him and his family, but his relatives who took him in think it was related to the digimon.

Despite this, he always had Daisuke’s help and later from Ken, who introduced him and Daisuke to his other friends: Miyako, Iori, Takeru and Hikari. And then, Miyako introduced all six to Wallace. He’s non-confrontational and the chillest person in the group, and might have the tendency to look serious but deep down he’s soft and gentle.

He’s a leap baby born in 1992, a year younger than Daisuke and a year older than Iori. He hides the injured eye with his bangs, which makes some people believe he’s emo or goth (because he really likes wearing black clothes, or some neutral dark shades of gray, purple and blue) – he doesn’t care about those though, he’s happy with his life. He works at a cafe shop called “Infinity” at the moment. Despite working at a cafe shop, he’s not very fond of very sweet stuff, and tends to prefer fruit desserts and sour candy.

Just like everyone else, Rui agrees Daisuke should quit working at that “vet clinic/lab” because he can’t stand watching someone, who helped him for most of his life, to suffer like that. And he’s one of the first friends to learn about the sketchy activities involving the clinic and the digimon.

But… For the safety of everyone – including Rui’s – Daisuke is not very comfortable talking about turning into a Kamen Rider… yet.

Well, he would get involved in that current crisis after meeting a certain critter…

[ladyofthecastleproject]

The Attack of the Shady Prince

[AO3 version]

Summary:

Wallace asks questions to Duskmon, but to receive answers he has to beat Daisuke. However, Daisuke refuses to fight him and he does not want to fight either. Ken's sharp senses catch something odd in this encounter...

[Notes: It's 2008; This one was inspired on "Attack of the Killer Queen" song ]

“What is this power you keep mentioning?”

Wallace had decided to search for answers since the day he had met Lightnimon and V-mon in the castle’s corridors. His only clue was that neither his friends-now-enemies know that. And, presumably said power is related to him, he at least should know it.

But… Duskmon kept him in the shadows. He only had mentioned Wallace's potential and wielding a powerful power. And, Wallace himself didn’t know that Daisuke also has an equivalent power in his hands. Well, not even Daisuke knows.

None of the children and their digimon knew. And with this, Wallace began his personal investigation using his own weapon -- his charismatic charm. Not that being charming and charismatic would work with a digimon but at least he could try!!

“You brought me here for a purpose right?”

He kept trying and trying.

“I’m not a captive, like you said. I’m a prince or something like that. So, how do I get this power to be awakened?”

His smile had been weaponized so many times before that he knew that complimenting someone and smiling had a big effect to let people’s guard down.

“...”

“Won’t you answer me?” he dropped the smile and pouted.

“You’re too naive for that.”

“Naive?” and then it enraged him, quietly.

Duskmon looked at him, “You have to prove you’re not that weak to learn that.”

“I’m not weak!” he clenched his fists, “You took me from Gummymon, and since then had told nothing about what you want from me.”

“You’re free to leave at any time you want, but… I do not recommend doing so.”

“Is that a threat? Didn’t you say I have an immense amount of power sleeping inside me?”

“You will not awaken it by being too soft.”

“Then… I will prove to you I’m not soft!”

“Maybe… If you stop your rival from awakening this power’s counterpart I could tell you more.”

“Fine. I will find this person and stop them.”

“Oh, didn’t you know who your rival is?” Duskmon laughed, “It’s your masked friend .”

“... I will stop him.”

“Right, so… The castle is far far far away from here” Daisuke explained, “You have to open a special gate to it. I know where said gate is. Or at least one of them…”

“Imperialdramon might be quickier” Ken mused, “But we would lose the surprise element.”

“You wouldn’t want to blow that castle up!” Gummymon (in Terriermon form) hissed, “Wallace is inside there!!”

“We won’t do that!” V-mon argued, “What, do you think Imperialdramon would blow up a castle!?”

“... Didn’t we--” Wormmon was about to say something, but V-mon gave him a serious gaze, “--We never did that!”

“... Anyway, yeah you’re right we need to not be caught!” Daisuke ignored the digimon discussing “And even him knowing it’s me… This armor worked to protect me from getting real hurt.”

“So now you won’t be hiding your identity?” Mimi asked.

Daisuke shrugged and frowned, “It’s not like he doesn’t know. I mean, Wallace recognized me without dropping any hint.”

“Not even your speech pattern?” Ken raised an eyebrow, “No offense Daisuke but… You weren’t fooling any of us.”

“W-what!?” he babbled, “D-did you all know it was me!?”

“I wouldn’t say we knew at first but…” Iori replied.

“We were completely confused by your actions” Miyako confessed, “That wasn’t like you.”

“So it was a bad plan afterall…” Daisuke sighed, “Well, at least it worked with some enemies before… And with some digimon populace.”

“I think they also knew but… rolled with it” Tailmon replied.

“I feel like a complete idiot now…” he was whimpering now.

“But… I think despite that,” Hikari commented “it was really cool of you to become a superhero for those digimon while we were looking for you.”

“E-eh!?” Daisuke blinked.

“Less talk, more action!” V-mon said, “Like your secret identity says.”

“R-right!” he nodded, “There’s a gate in this area” and he pointed at a forest region in the map, “it’s activated by a lever disguised as a branch with a black rose on it.”

Later, when they reached the mountainous region via said portal Daisuke told them, the group splitted in two -- One for Daisuke and Ken, to invade the castle and rescue Wallace… And Another with the rest who would keep around and prevent troops from coming after the boys.

Gummymon asked to go with them. Mimi and Palmon were a bit torn with the possibility of them fighting Wallace… She hated the idea, she preferred to believe Daisuke, Ken, their digimon and Gummymon would be enough to prevent a battle.

They were heading to the castle with their digimon (Gummymon on V-mon’s head, Wormmon on Ken’s back) when…

Someone on the horizon was spotted. The more they approached, the silhouette of the mysterious person-or-digimon became clearer. Until they reach him and stop a few meters before.

“Wallace!” Gummymon gasped, yet he was smiling, “You’re safe!”

“So this is the Wallace person we were looking for” Ken mused, but noticed something strange. It was too easy… “Daisuke, wait.”

“So you stopped hiding yourself” the blonde said, unfazed, “Gummymon come here.”

“Don’t move!” Ken warned them, “It might be a trap.”

“A trap?” Wallace repeated and tilted his head a little. It was confusing… Who’s this black haired boy and why was he ordering his digimon to not move, “There’s no trap. I need your help.”

“That’s okay,” Daisuke told Ken, “We freed him from the brainwashing before.”

“I don’t think so…” Ken kept wary about Wallace’s quirks. It doesn’t seem right… But he never met Wallace before so how could he tell anything? Gummymon and Daisuke are trustworthy, they would know if something is off, right…?

“Why do you need our help?” V-mon voice asked, and then he took Gummymon from his head and put it on the ground. Gummymon tried to move but even himself was unable to go there.

“I need to awaken this power. But… I won’t be doing it if I don’t stop Daisuke first.”

“Huh!?” Daisuke blinked, “What do you mean!? I don’t even know what kind of power you and I have! All we got was… Nothing. Only our enemies said something about this! You know that I’m telling you the truth! We are friends, right?”

Daisuke was definitely trying to go by Mimi’s pacifism route, even if he wasn’t that great at being able to convince people with charisma. It’s harder when you’re not Mimi though…

“That’s why I need your help” Wallace smiled, “You pretend to lose to me and I get more details about said power. It’s quite a good tradeoff.”

“... You’re still falling for his lies!” Daisuke babbled, “He tricked you to come here and try to… To, uh… kill me?”

“You know I wouldn’t do that right? Please we can discover what this is if we work together, Daisuke”

“There’s something strange with Wallace…” Gummymon stepped back, “Please stop that, you’re scaring me…!”

“Why don’t you understand!?” he spat, “This is the only way to get an idea what they’re talking about!”

“Do you know that they were trying to murder me right?!” Daisuke gritted his teeth, “Because for some reason they don’t want us to get whatever-those-powers-are together!”

“They… They wanted to kill you?” Wallace’s eyes widened.

“Yeah genius, they were hunting me down like an animal. I wasn’t hiding my face for nothing!”

“... So, he sent me to kill you” and he wavered, something Wallace was hiding behind his back was spotted by Ken “I can’t believe this…”

“Now you know! Then stop this nonsense talk and come with us! We can find another way to discover the said power we hold, so please… Let’s not fight.”

“G-get out… Don’t approach me” Wallace shouted desperately as he watched Daisuke come closer “I don’t want to do it!”

“Daisuke, wait--” Ken shouted but...

“What are you sayin--” and thus he immediately summoned the Lighdra-Glaive to block a knife Wallace was wielding “Why did you try that!?”

“I warned you!!” Wallace said, wavering “Please get out of here, take Gummymon with you. I can’t control myself…!”

“What?” and Wallace involuntarily tried to hit Daisuke again, but he dodged, “Hey stop!! What’s wrong with you!?”

“He’s been controlled” Ken deduced, then glanced at Wormmon, V-mon and Gummymon with a serious glare “Can you sense if there’s any digimon around?”

“There’s one but… where I can’t tell” Wormmon said, but he and the other two digimon were frowning. “Yeah...” V-mon and Gummymon replied together.

“Hmm… Daisuke, you need to use that glaive right now!”

“WHAT!?” and he grabbed his digivice, pressed a button and he changed to his armor to avoid getting hit by the knife “I CAN’T USE IT ON HIM, HE’S NOT THE ENEMY!”

“No you idiot, you need to illuminate this place right now!!”

“Ah I see…!” he nodded, then raised the Lighdra-Glaive, “Take this!!” and the lighting gathered at the blade, forming a ball of light, which forced Wallace to cover his eyes.

Gummymon took advantage and grabbed the knife from Wallace’s hands and V-mon gave him a pair of fast legs, taking him from the ground and stepping away from Wallace.

“Where is it…??” Ken muttered, then he just… “Wormmon! Kindness Digimental Up! ”

Wormmon armor evolved into Pucchiemon, but still confused about what his partner had in mind. Until Ken pointed at a pair of eyes in Wallace’s shadow for his reference.

“Heartner Beam!!”

Pucchiemon’s beam hit Wallace’s shadow and a digimon left. It was a shadow-like creature with big eyes as wings? They couldn’t tell… Daisuke undid the lightning sphere and they all meet that creature -- Eyesmon.

“That thing!” Wallace pointed at, “That’s the thing that… Kept me unable to move freely!!”

“V-mon, Courage Digimental Up!! “ By Daisuke’s command, V-mon armor evolved into Fladramon and destroyed the shadow-like thing with his own claws covered in flames. Data bits scattered through the area where once was Eyesmon.

“Is it gone?” Gummymon asked, “Is Wallace safe?”

“I believe he is” Daisuke said, while Ken kept inspecting the area “You OK now?”

“Yeah, I think so…” Wallace moved his arm normally, it didn’t feel like someone was restraining his movements or even forcing him to do awful things “Thank you Daisuke and uh…”

“He’s Ken” V-mon said, “Ichijouji Ken. A friend of ours.”

“He got sharp eyes,” Wallace chuckled, “I tried to warn but even my tongue was controlled.”

“So you weren’t really wanting to pretend to have beaten me?” Daisuke blinked. He took the D-3 again and changed back to his usual outfit.

“Oh no, what I couldn't say was that there was a digimon controlling me. That’s odd, because…”

“Why would they let you talk normally but not reveal they were in your shadow?” V-mon mused.

“This… This is not the end” Ken said, glancing at the others “This was intentional.”

“Of course it was!” Wallace replied with a pout, “You shouldn’t have come here, you all are in danger.”

“No, We won’t leave without you!” and he grabbed Wallace’s hands, “You’re our friend and we refuse to leave you behind again!!”

“You don’t understand! They were hurting you and everyone because of me, and now they forced me to kill you I… I can’t escape, this is my fate.”

“You can’t change your fate, but you can choose your destiny” Gummymon said, gave the knife to V-mon (who devolved back to child form) and flew to Wallace’s head, where he landed “You had done that before, don’t you remember?”

“Wait… Destiny... ” Daisuke had a flash in his mind, and then he let go of Wallace's hands “... I think I got what this power is…”

“Did you!?” Everyone looked at Daisuke. It was quite odd seeing him figuring things out, but this had happened a couple of times before.

“Yeah, the Digimentals of Miracles and Destiny” he said, “Those are the hidden powers inside us.”

“But how can that be possible?” Wormmon, who also had devolved back to child form, said with a gasp “Aren’t those special digimentals only used by sacred digimon?”

“Well, Angemon and Angewomon did that once…” V-mon explained, “Do you think they’re related to it again?”

“Well, maybe. Now let’s get out of here!” Daisuke dragged Wallace with him but he hit his head on some barrier “OW! What the!?”

“I told you, I can’t leave…” Wallace sighed, “I tried before and I can only go this far.”

“No way, I didn’t come here to leave you behind again!” and then he started kicking and punching it. “GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!!”

“There must be some way to open it,” Ken said, his chin resting on his hand, “We should go to the castle.”

“W-what!?” V-mon gasped, then looked at Daisuke acting like a real idiot kicking the barrier, “Uh Daisuke…! Use that spear-thing!!”

“Oh, good idea V-mon!!” Now he summoned the Lighdra-Glaive once again and started trying to cut it with the blade “OPEN YOU STUPID INVISIBLE BARRIER!”

“I agree there must be a way to leave this place if we go there, but how about Daisuke?” Wallace asked with some concern, pointing at the other still fighting the barrier.

“He’s fine, don’t worry,” Ken answered.

“That seems like a good idea,” Wormmon said, and climbed Ken’s back.

In the background you could see Daisuke throwing the glaive at the barrier and it bouncing back at him, making him run away from the glaive until it got stuck on the floor.

“Well, it's not like we have any other option” Gummymon shrugged, but using his ears.

“Daisuke!!” V-mon was too busy watching a 17 year old teenager fight with a barrier and lose to it.

“FINE YOU WON! I didn’t want to leave anyways!” And he walked back to the current group, sulking.

“Daisuke, calm down. There might exist a portal or something to turn the barrier off inside the castle.” Ken said, trying to comfort him.

“Whatever!” He was quite upset, “Let’s go.”

[vilgramcrimeandpunishment]

VILGRAM - The Second Trial Commences

J: Hey there, Es. It's been a while, hasn't it? It's Jackalope-sama. I'm sure you were eager to see me. As it always has been with these trials. But, as well, I was watching all of you. Are you really enjoying VILGRAM as much as you claim to be? Hehe....looks like it. These prisoners, compared to the previous batch, seem to be more...how one would say, morally grey? Leanings towards pure evil, but still enough where softies such as yourself would vote some of them forgiven.....Hahaha, I'm joking. Jokes. As you are aware, you voted them forgiven and unforgiven based on their songs. Forgiven meant freedom of thought, and rejection of thought as well as the first phase of physical constriction for the unforgiven prisoners. We already know the drill at this point, so let me enlighten you on the events born from your judgement

CW: Implication of self st*rvation, sui thoughts, extreme depression, violence, clouded judgement that lead to a lot of shit, poor unhealthy mentalities, everyone needs intensive therapy basically

Prisoner number 001 - Kasumi Aisaka

Your judgement was unforgiven, and as such, her ideas were rejected. Because of that, the cutie has been a crybaby since the physical restraints were activated. Engulfed in her own anxiety, she can do nothing but let her depression out in the form of nonstop sobbing. She cut off all those who tried to contact her and lost the last remaining drop of any social energy she had. If it wasn’t for all that pink on her person, I would’ve mistaken the poor sobbing rag as Hikari or Haruto, being isolated and miserable in her cell. It's unattractive, seeing a cute girl just wallow in her bed and refuse her meals, no? Regret turning her into the sad sack she is now? Hahahaha, kidding.....

Prisoner number 002 - Daisuke Kurosaki

Your judgement was unforgiven, and as such, his ideas were rejected. As a result, he was beaten nearly to death by prisoner number six, Kousei Tachihara. Due to his physical restraints and weakened mental state, he was unable to fight back. If it wasn't for prisoner number four's interference, he would've died. Prisoner number four, Mai Akagi, offered medical assistance, but her lack of skills barely managed to save him. Not such an attractive look now with the ladies, I might say. Despite his horrid state, he developed an even stronger attachment with prisoner number seven, Masako, after she did her best to stop the attack before Mai stepped in. He also developed, while not as strong as Masako, an attachment to prisoner number nine, Asuka. He treats her more or less of a little sister, or as best as he could with a physical and mental restraints along with a beating

Prisoner 003 - Haruto Suzuki

Your judgement was forgiven, and as such, his ideas were affirmed. Being found innocent enabled a sense of confidence and sociability with him. Still being awkward with conversations, he managed to look people in the eye more and carry dialogue for longer periods of time. As a result, he became close friends with prisoner number eight, Hikari. Introverts getting along, I might say? Not that I would know, boys like that never are quite popular with the opposite sex, hehe.....While not much has changed with him, other than opening up a little, you shouldn’t take it lightly….he was voted forgiven after all. Let's see if he'll use it wisely

Prisoner 004 - Mai Akagi

Your judgement was forgiven, and as such, her ideas were affirmed. Being forgiven allowed her freedom of physical movement, which enabled her to protect Daisuke from Kousei's attacks. Because of that and the medical treatment....well....as much medical treatment as she could provide....she basically saved his life. As such, she also stepped in to aid prisoner number seven, Masako's, wounds even thought they weren’t as serious. With that said, Mai has also scolded and verbally chastised prisoner number six, Kousei. Despite still being the ever so extrovert she is, she has apparently cut close contact with her boy toy since his attack. Hehe, if she doesn't want him anymore, it might be my chance to score with a looker like her....kidding!

Prisoner 005 - Akari Kamizaki

Your judgement was unforgiven, and as such, her ideas were rejected. Because she was found unforgiven, she became a broken shell of the bright and energetic girl she once was. It's actually quite sad, an even more exaggerated version of what happened with Kasumi. Wallowing in her own guilt? Extreme self-deprecation? That’s cute….Akari has lost her will to live, questioned her own existence, and the unyielding spirit inside of her has, well....yielded. While she is not refusing conversation like prisoner number one is, it would be better if she did, to be honest. Suicidal thoughts said out loud isn't suited for a cute girl like her. I'm into the frosty types, but not this way.....

Prisoner 006 - Kousei Tachihara

Your judgement was forgiven, and as such, his ideas were affirmed. Being found forgiven furthered his faith in his abilities and unlocked his desire to protect the others. That being said, he went...too far with his sense of justice and started to attack the prisoner he thought would be a danger to everyone, even with physical restraints. You guessed it! The creepy prisoner number two, who was in the brink of death. Despite Kousei thinking it was right to attack Daisuke, telling himself it was to protect the others, he seems rather aloof for someone that was voted forgiven. Most possibly because Mai cut contact with him for his actions. Did he truly attack the already restrained Daisuke to make the prison safer? I surely wouldn’t believe it was because of personal grudges between two insane men….

Prisoner 007 - Masako Katsura

Your judgment was unforgiven, and as such, her ideas were rejected. She fells victim to trying to protect Daisuke from Kousei’s attacks, but her own physical restraints did more harm than good. She was swung by Kousei’s baton, earning quite a nasty bruise on that pretty face of hers. Kousei stopped after a few swings, realizing the poor thing he was beating up wasn’t his target. Mai patched up Masako, her wounds not being as serious as Daisuke’s. As her actions were quite heroic, despite her own verdict, prisoner number two became a little more, hehe….lovey dovey with her. He's not the only prisoner that became attached to her. Number nine, Asuka, also tried forming an alliance with her and even Daisuke. The results? Perhaps it might be due to their common verdict and weaken mental state, but they're warming up to each other quite readily.....

Prisoner 008 - Hikari Kimura

Your judgement was forgiven, and as such, his ideas were affirmed. Being found forgiven may have been a good thing for him, but Hikari seems more stubborn and snarky than ever. He showed open disdain to VILGRAM itself. I wouldn't really say he became cold, rather his rudeness only shown towards VILGRAM than to the other prisoners. However, one positive came from it, it being prisoner number three, Haruto, befriending him. He even seems to be a good influence on the gamer boy. Being forgiven....what exactly does a useless, pathetic being do with such a gift? Accept it? Realize what he did wasn't wrong? Reflect on his actions? Who knows what's going on through his head

Prisoner 009 - Asuka Minori

Your judgement was unforgiven, and as such, her ideas were rejected. Being unforgiven caused her to, well.....hehehe....it's it great when kids actually act their age? I suppose she wants to be treated like a child now, huh? She tried to form alliances with the other guilty prisoners, specifically prisoner number two, Daisuke, and number seven, Masako. Say, wasn't she the same brat that said she only makes friendships when it can benefit her? Wonder what she will take from it. Not like it's something that interests me, Masako is a real beauty, but you already know I'm not into women with attachment issues. Back to Asuka, despite a few sniffles and honestly tears that may be entirely crocodile tears, has much changed about her? Friendships with people like her seem superficial to be fair

Prisoner 010 - Raiden Arisawa

Your judgement was forgiven, and as such, his ideas were affirmed. Being found innocent well....not much has changed, at least on the surface of the old geezer. But has nothing really changed? I wouldn't be surprised if underneath that smile, he was questioning his own existence, doubt his own thoughts, and having an existential crisis, heheheh....after all, he did say he wanted to die here. Oh, you did to him before and now Raiden? What a cruel thing, Es, hehehe....I kid. Well, he seems glad to simply observe prisoners like Haruto and Hikari befriending each other, but shocked and terrified of Kousei's attack on Daisuke, and unintentional attack on Masako. Concerned is the best way to put it for girls like Kasumi and Akari. Almost as if he's playing silent mediator, ya know?

Okay, so that's all that happened since the end of the first trial. By the way, prisoner on prisoner violence was banned once you woke up, as usual. It's for the sake of VILGRAM's processing, as you are aware. So don't always look so tense when these things happen, we had worse in the past. That is to say, anything note-worthy will happen at the end of the second trial. Make sure you judge with that in mind. Hehehe, so that's it. Vilgram allows for morality, ethics, ... or sexual inclination as the basis for judgement. You have done just that in the first trial, and you have my gratitude. And now, as we come to the second trial, I suppose it's only natural that your basis for judgement have also changed. Heheh....ahahahha....AHAHAHAAH, Oh how I wonder what will become of your next judgement! Judging on prisoner innocent can lead to a chain of reactions, putting others into super hell, judging another one guilty can take a massive loss for those around them as well! Gambling with human lives, affecting the already tense environment around them, and punishing those who had nothing to do with their verdicts, it's human nature though! The selfishness and cruelty of them! Ahaha....ahem....sorry, got a little heated there. Anyways, I'm always counting on you for these decisions, Es

...Let VILGRAM: The Second Trial, begin

[shihalyfie]

A guide to the 02 kids’ personalities and overall demeanors

I’ve already covered the deeper details of each 02 kid’s character arc and development throughout the series, but I figured I might dedicate a more specific post about the complexities of their outer personalities, and their behavior patterns on a day-to-day basis. 02 is the kind of series that doesn’t really spell out what the characters tend to do or don’t tend to do, or what boundaries they will and won’t cross, which means it can be a bit of a challenging task to track their behavior over fifty episodes and figure out the patterns. Fortunately, these characters are written remarkably consistently over said episodes, so we have a lot to work with!

Disclaimer before we continue: In general, all of my 02-based meta is specifically written for the Japanese version in mind, but this especially applies to this one, because the majority of the nuances of the demeanor and personality traits described below were not retained in the American English dub at all (please see this post for more detail). As a result, please understand that if you’re working from the perspective of having only seen that dub, and the contents of the below post sound completely different, that would be why.

Daisuke and V-mon

Believe it or not, I would say that Daisuke is actually the most difficult to nail the nuances of out of this entire cast. This is probably a really weird thing to hear when the usual fandom mantra is that he’s “flat” or “lacking in development”, but I think the deceptive part is that while he’s simple-minded and himself doesn’t think in complex terms, analyzing his behavior as a whole and how he approaches things actually involves a lot of very delicate balances, and getting that exactly right can be very easy to mess up. Daisuke’s not a rude jerk who looks down on anyone, not in the slightest -- but he’s also not a saint who can do no wrong, either!

I think the easiest analogy (which I’ve brought up several times on this blog already) is that Daisuke is like a puppy, but not just any puppy -- a tiny puppy that barks very loudly at anything it perceives as threatening (regardless of whether it’s actually threatening), makes its feelings very clear with obvious likes and dislikes, and can do some phenomenally stupid things in a bid to please others, but in the end means no malice and only wants you to be happy.

This is to the point where I’m just going to have to bullet-point this, because there’s so much going on at once:

Excessively emotional: One of Daisuke’s earliest profiles refers to him as having “an excessively large range of human emotions”, and really, a lot of the humor surrounding him has to do with the fact he has incredibly dramatic, overblown reactions to nearly everything around him. So if he gets a little annoyed or suspicious of people making fun of him, he tends to get really dramatic about being upset, and when he experiences only a minor setback, he acts like it’s the end of the world, and when he’s emotionally hurt, he sometimes even gets set on the verge of crying (you can especially hear this in Kiuchi Reiko’s delivery). Even Daisuke himself doesn’t tend to get caught up in it for too long and gets over things surprisingly quickly, so you can take it as him just constantly being too wrapped up in the mood -- but when it really is a serious situation, he gets truly emotionally invested in it, too.

Too easy to read: Because Daisuke wears his heart on his sleeve and is dramatic about everything, he’s awful at hiding anything. Any attempt at trickery or trying to disguise his intentions quickly blows up in his face because he’s too simple-minded and too transparent.

Not malicious: Daisuke only ever lashes out or gets angry at others when he thinks others are doing something he disapproves of, or when he thinks he’s being attacked; he’s very warm and kind to everyone otherwise (even in the earliest parts of the series, when he’s at his roughest, you might notice he’s very soft around Chibimon, as if understanding that his partner is now in a very small and delicate form and needs to be treated accordingly). In other words, Daisuke is very quick to get defensive, but he has no malice or reason to be condescending towards anyone otherwise, and he’s perfectly friendly with people even when they’d provoked him earlier (because he doesn’t really hold grudges). He doesn’t attack people without reason; even when he voices dissent against what someone is doing, he very rarely, if ever, insults a person or their character directly. Even when he’s trying to state his opinions (such as when he bids for the others to accept Ken), he never forces them down others’ throats and accepts that they disagree with him, even if he’s clearly not happy with their disagreement.

Easily critical and suspicious: Daisuke is a very bluntly straightforward and honest person, and he seems to get most set off by people who act suspicious; note how his early-series outbursts towards Takeru tend to be when Takeru’s acting evasive, and in Hurricane Touchdown, he catches onto Wallace’s shady behavior even before he starts flirting with Miyako (Daisuke’s own method of trying to seem attractive to others involves just “doing something cool and hoping it’ll impress others”, so he seems to dislike the concept of flirting as a whole). Because of that, he catches easily onto “things looking off”, so he tends to call it out (even if sometimes he’s overdoing it and there isn’t actually anything significant to be upset about).

Supportive and adoring of others: Other than the moments when he gets set off, fundamentally speaking, Daisuke likes other people, is perfectly willing to acknowledge them or heap praise on them when they do something awesome, and generally cares for their well-being. He’s easily defers to others when he understands they’re better than him at something, and he even has a decently realistic scope of his limits (see how he’s perfectly aware he’s likely to lose the soccer game in 02 episode 8, and figures he might as well enjoy the experience). This is even taken to its logical conclusion in the Kizuna drama CD when he “credits” his friends for giving him amazing and insightful advice when all of it was actually pretty ordinary stuff they’d done offhandedly. It also means that, given his penchant for getting emotionally invested in everything, he has a huge emotional stake in making sure his friends are doing okay, and supports them accordingly.

Deferential to seniors/elders: Tying into the above, you may notice that Daisuke takes a properly respectful and soft tone towards his elders and seniors in nearly all occasions, even to the point of occasionally using proper polite-form language around them. All things considered, Daisuke is a pretty well-behaved kid.

Constantly getting strung around: As much as Daisuke looks like he’s aggressive, in actuality, it’s very easy to get him to back down if you argue against him strongly enough, and since he has such a “the heck is that?!” attitude all of the time, you can see him constantly getting strung around and at the mercy of things happening around him. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have enough will to put his foot down when it becomes a really important subject (especially in the second half of the series), but it’s very often when he’ll be talked down by others around him and shrink with an “oh...okay...” In fact, this is why a lot of his actions aren’t nearly as reckless as they might be otherwise; as much as he’s a bit hot-headed and likes to lead the attack, he also has a sense of self-preservation and intimidation when things look a bit too dangerous, and will only push forward in such a case when there’s something he really believes in at the other side of it.

Lacking in self-awareness and insecure as a result: While Daisuke doesn’t have any signs of persistent self-hatred (on the contrary, there are times he arguably comes off as overconfident), it also seems that he has practically zero awareness of how he himself is doing -- which means that he ends up rolling over like an idiot trying to get others’ approval and trying to impress them, even when it’d be clear to anyone else that he already has that approval. This also likely ties into the fact that he’s perfectly capable of acknowledging others’ accomplishments and skills (see above), so you might even think that the problem isn’t so much that he thinks he’s bad as much as he keeps comparing himself to people he perceives as being that much more awesome. (Perhaps symbolic of this, he apparently has a complex over being shorter than Takeru and Ken, despite the fact that he seems to be of perfectly average height for a kid his age.) It seems that his only bar for how he’s doing is dependent on everyone’s reactions around him, hence why his ridiculous antics are significantly less pronounced when he has proper emotional support and friends to keep him in check. It’s also important to consider that this applies to his apparent crush on Hikari as well; his crush mainly manifests in wanting her approval very badly, and it’s mostly visible in terms of him losing a ton of brain cells in her presence and bending over backwards to please her or impress her. He never actually says in words that he’s interested in her, nor does he ever show signs of intending to seriously ask her out, so it’s something that’s only apparent because of this behavior, and it’s very likely he hasn’t even seriously thought through what would happen if she actually accepted him in return. You can basically see this as an extreme version of the way Daisuke tries to get approval from everyone else, and this trait of his noticeably dies down whenever there’s more important things at hand, or when he seems to be in the midst of getting proper validation from those around him.

Simple-minded and pragmatic: What’s usually referred to as Daisuke being an “idiot” comes from the fact he doesn’t play well with complex thinking, tends to settle for very simple explanations or answers, and more thoughtful types like Ken or Iori will often have to fill that part in for him. However, because Daisuke is so simple-minded, he’s sometimes the most pragmatic person in the group, because he doesn’t overthink things or get principles of theory caught up into everything. So if Ken is clearly not showing any indication of doing bad things anymore and is actively working to help, Daisuke believes he should be allowed to help regardless of what he’d done in the past, and if they’re dealing with the situation of potentially having to kill a living enemy, Daisuke points out that hesitation would have resulted in even more casualties. In essence, in a situation where everyone’s running mental loop-de-loops, Daisuke will usually be the first one to snap them all out of it and go “uh? Guys?” Moreover, this trait of his makes him very good at spotting glaring threads or asking questions about the elephant in the room, because since he works best with things that are right in front of him, he can’t not notice it.

Enjoys the little things: Because Daisuke is so simple-minded, it’s very easy to please him (this is why his chosen career path is something as simple as ramen making). Daisuke likes his friends, and appreciates even simple things around him, so he’s happy with even simple pieces of happiness -- hence, why he’s fine with potentially losing the soccer game in 02 episode 8, because he’s ready to simply just savor the experience of getting to play against a respectable and formidable opponent.

Note that the main reason Daisuke never seems to bring up any of these issues with himself within the series proper is simply that he doesn’t seem to be aware of them -- he’s too simple-minded to understand what’s going on with his own behavior in depth, and hence, this is how he can say he’s not worried about too much by the time of 02′s finale, especially since by that point he has a proper support group that’s already helping him deal with most of his issues anyway.

Daisuke also has the roughest speech pattern out of any of the 02 group (similar to Taichi and Yamato in Adventure); he has a tendency to shorten words a lot and use “rough” variants of words (for example “-nee” instead of “-nai”).

Mischievous, friendly, and playful, V-mon is pointed out even by official sources to be much like his partner (far more so than usual), and it’s likely a byproduct of the fact that Daisuke himself is very honest and straightforward about his emotions and thoughts, and so since he has nothing to hide, V-mon is pretty much exactly like him -- with the major difference being that he’s a little more outwardly friendly and less likely to lash out angrily. So he’s effectively Daisuke without that very thin abrasive exterior, and because both of them are so like-minded and friendly, they get along extremely well (albeit with quite a bit of comfortable bantering on the way there).

Ken and Wormmon

Ken is the more intellectual type that Daisuke isn’t, and even after his stint as the Kaiser, it’s clear that he’s still quite studious and naturally interested in studying things. Looking closely at his style of dress and way of carrying himself (note how he lays down his chopsticks in 02 episode 36) indicates he’s also a rather tidy person in general. Being someone who’s capable of thinking things thoroughly, this makes him able to have a lot of deep insight into both intellectual and emotional issues, but because he takes things too seriously sometimes, he can sometimes come off as a bit overly stickler or insistent (note Daisuke and Ken’s Shopping Carol, where he subjects Daisuke to a long-winded lecture about the history of Christmas, because, really, he’s a nerd), or lead himself down the wrong direction when he’s having a hard time being straightforward (such as when he comes up with some very flimsy theories about why Jogress might be dangerous in 02 episode 28).

In fact, Ken’s disposition could be considered to be the opposite of Daisuke’s in many ways; while Ken is much softer and more conciliatory on the surface, he’s actually much more assertive and strong-willed by default, and it’s made clear that, even after his reformation from the Kaiser persona, he could still be vicious if he wanted to, he just doesn’t enjoy it because he doesn’t like it and it goes against his belief system (note that he even offered to "dirty his own hands" in lieu of the other kids if push came to shove and Archnemon had to be killed in 02 episode 29, even though he clearly wasn't enthusiastic about the idea). In fact, he has a very strong sense of responsibility and believes heavily in making up for what he’s done -- recall that 02 episodes 26 and 49 involved snapping him out of it by reminding him that there were things that needed to be done, and that he himself still had many things he wanted to do that wouldn’t be addressed if he’d stayed fixated on his past. Thus, Ken doesn’t deny nor avoid anything he’d done, and he isn’t even all that prone to self-pity -- it’s just that his tendency to put too much responsibility on himself means that he also takes a while to accept everyone’s support, too, because he doesn’t like the idea of putting burdens on others.

Because Ken is actually one of the more straightforward people in this group and a fairly honest person (at least, as long as he’s not lying to himself), he might hold himself back a little bit in order to not be rude, but he doesn’t do it nearly to the same degree Takeru or Hikari would and is much more willing to speak his mind when he has an opinion he wants to voice or needs to sort out his thoughts on something. Conversely, he’s not nearly as cold as Iori can get when criticizing things (he’ll certainly be firm, but not as incisive). Most post-02 materials also indicate that he’s not above being a tease or even a little mischievous (see Armor Evolution to the Unknown, Diablomon Strikes Back, Daisuke and Ken’s Shopping Carol).

Ken uses a speech pattern that’s slightly more casual than Takeru’s, but not nearly as rough as Daisuke’s. While anime will often have speech patterns substantially change between different personas of a character, other than Park Romi’s delivery of a more condescending tone for the Kaiser and a significantly softer one for Ken, nothing about his speech pattern is substantially different between the two personas (not even the first-person pronoun), indicating that, in the end, they’re really the same person after all, just manifesting the same personality traits in different ways.

Wormmon is affectionate and clingy, unfailingly loyal to Ken, and his biggest advocate during a time when Ken is trying to relearn how to love and accept himself -- meaning that he ends up very important to providing Ken the initial support he needed before Ken allowed other friends into his life. Wormmon isn’t all nothing but clinginess, though -- he has some insight about the weight of his experiences when prompted (02 episode 46), and in fact is more than capable of calling out Ken’s behavior when he’s being unreasonable or throwing himself into denial (see 02 episodes 27, 30, and 49).

Miyako and Hawkmon

Miyako approaches everything she likes with an attitude that makes her come off as constantly having bubbles and hearts around her. When she likes something, she says so. When she doesn’t like something, she says so (and she will go off when she’s on a roll; see 02 episode 14). In fact, part of the reason she so infamously voices her opinion on people being cute is, quite simply, that it’s her honest opinion. (Note that she never actually tries to ask them out or anything -- she just wants to make it very clear that they’re attractive.)

For the most part, she adores the people around her, and, like the others in the 02 group, she’s perfectly respectful towards elders.  She also loves poking her nose in others’ business and trying to be as helpful as possible, which is good in that she ends up being a huge help to others, but also not good in that sometimes she overdoes it a bit (when Hikari calls her out for being a “handful” in 02 episode 31, the word she uses is one that literally means "a little too overly involved in others' business").

Miyako is the one who gets everyone up in high spirits by being cheerful, and whose cheer rubs off on everyone else around her (see her cheerfully leading the charge into the Digital World with her “Digital Gate, open! Chosen Children, let’s roll!” catchphrase). This is something the rest of the group catches onto very quickly, asking her to supply the “usual cheer”, and the later episodes of the series especially drive home the fact that her presence and antics bring happiness to those around her.

Miyako has a similar “chaotic, sloppy, and straightforward” demeanor to Daisuke, but there are some key differences. Unlike Daisuke, who’s bluntly honest about his opinions mainly because he doesn’t really hide things in general, Miyako’s opinions will be out of her mouth before she can control it. In other words, she has a nasty case of foot-in-mouth syndrome. In addition, while Daisuke tends to have a very thin skin and lashes out defensively out of instinct, Miyako takes things much more at face value and doesn’t blow a fuse nearly as easily, but because she’s significantly more assertive and aggressive, she’s much more prone to doing what she wants on her own whims instead of backing down to anyone. In fact, Miyako is significantly more emotionally sensitive in the long run, so while Daisuke tends to blow a fuse more easily, he’s also able to shrug it off and move on more quickly, whereas Miyako has a thicker skin, but when she does take emotional pain, she takes it much more deeply and harshly. She also tends to get overwhelmed easily by stress and panic, which makes her one of the more prone to running around in circles and doing frantic things in the midst of it.

One thing you might notice about Miyako is that she’s actually more critical of herself than anyone else in the group is; most of the time they act with mild exasperation at her antics but don’t tend to criticize her directly, whereas Miyako is very aware of her own shortcomings and is constantly either criticizing herself or comparing herself negatively to others (see: 02 episodes 10, 14, 18, and 31 especially). If she slips up and does something that stepped on someone else’s toes, it doesn’t take her long to realize that she’s messed up and want to do better. So while she generally tends to act the most in-your-face and aggressive, she also doesn’t necessarily want to be this way, and suffers from self-confidence issues and a poor opinion of herself.

Miyako uses a feminine speech pattern that’s a bit more casual than Hikari’s (she noticeably is willing to use the word anta for “you”, which has a bit of a connotation of being abrupt and in-your-face, especially with Daisuke). She’s also the most likely to physically manhandle things, both in the affectionate (hugging people) and aggressive (grabbing things and jumping on them in order to attack) senses.

Hawkmon is repeatedly referred to as being like Miyako’s “knight”, since he has absolute loyalty to her (in spite of her ridiculous antics often meaning he gets strung around by her) and is effectively in charge of minding her so she doesn’t get too out of control. While his overly polite and gentlemanly demeanor initially seems like a sharp contrast to Miyako’s aggressive and messy personality, you might also notice that, at their cores, the two aren’t all that different -- both are unfailingly loyal to others, and both also have a penchant for dramatic theatrics and being a bit overly proud of themselves.

Iori and Armadimon

The key thing to know about Iori is that he’s not stoic because he’s not feeling fervent emotions, but rather because he’s constantly holding them back (this is especially apparent if you look carefully at his facial expressions and Urawa Megumi’s delivery, where you can tell his facade is often “slipping” even when his words would indicate otherwise). Since Iori is trying to live by the ideal of being a model citizen, especially under the very formal environment he was raised in, he comes off as mature for his age, but it’s very important to not forget that, underneath all that, he’s still an impressionable nine-year-old child with the wide range of emotions and immaturity of one, and when he does emotionally fall apart, everything tends to burst out (see 02 episodes 16, 44, 47, 50). In addition, Iori is never condescending about the fact he usually acts more mature than the others; the impression is that he’s much more strict with himself than he is with others, and in fact still does look up to his elders in the 02 group even when they’re obviously a lot messier than he is.

The “need to be a model citizen” is something looming over Iori’s head at almost every moment, and it’s the easiest way to understand the way he acts in a nutshell. Iori is focused on the idea of “becoming a proper adult”, which means that he’s adhering to all of these principles because he feels they’re necessary to live a proper and honest life as per the formal manners that his family background trained him into. But like a young child who insists “you have to do this because those are the rules!” all of the time, Iori is over-applying all of this, and even his own grandfather advises him that he really needs to chill (02 episodes 5, 24). In short, he struggles with thinking flexibly and understanding that life isn’t all that clear-cut, because he’s a young child. Since he also tends to bring out these things in relation to “what my father would do/say”, it’s implied that he’s basing all of this off of having only hearsay to work off of in regards to what his father was actually like, to the point of aspiring to an impossible, saintlike version of him he’d created in his head.

Note that Iori’s “rules” have less to do with institutional rules (that would be more of a Jou thing) and more to do with self-imposed personal rules; for instance, he doesn’t mind sneaking into school during a holiday when it’s obviously not hurting anyone (02 episode 6), but he struggles with things like wasting food (02 episode 3) or not formally introducing himself to an elder (02 episode 5). So in other words, his adherence to principles has heavily to do with “the right and proper way to live” more than anything, and what he believes is the right thing to do in a given situation.

Iori’s journey in 02 is largely fueled by the fact that, as an inheritor of sorts of the Crest of Knowledge, he has a sense of “I want to know and understand more” whenever he sees something that makes him curious, but unlike Koushirou’s desire to learn more about the world around him in terms of its technical workings, Iori mainly wants to know more about people. The reason he begins to let go of his inflexible mindset is that he has the humility to understand that he still has a lot more to learn and understand, and when he sees behavior from others that doesn’t make sense, he does his best to learn more about it -- hence how his aggressive probing into learning more about Takeru allows them to reach an understanding and eventual Jogress, and how he’s able to eventually reassess his own view of human morality and emotions.

Iori sticks out in that he almost always uses the formal variant of Japanese in most situations (nobody else in the 02 group does this). However, formal in this situation doesn’t necessarily mean polite; Iori doesn’t believe in flattery and will bluntly state his opinion in said formal tone, and will be very cold towards something he sufficiently disapproves of or doesn’t have any respect for, which can make him even come off as passive-aggressive at times. (Noticeably, while he still asserts his own opinion, he does refrain from criticizing the others in the 02 group too much, presumably because he respects and looks up to them a lot as his elders, regardless of how chaotic they can sometimes get.) In addition, because a lot of his demeanor comes from him restraining himself, when his emotions are sufficiently pushed over the edge, he loses grip on the polite form and starts “lapsing” back into the casual one.

Because Iori was so young during 02, and because the events of its story ended up really upending his view of the world, the huge eight-year gap between 02 and Kizuna makes it difficult to predict certain things about his demeanor at the time of Kizuna (especially since his own voice actor commented on the difficulty of conveying the nuances of Iori’s character, thanks to only being able to work with the limited time frame of a movie that doesn’t put him in the kinds of emotionally drastic situations that push him to his limit). That said, everything we’ve seen of him in the movie itself and the drama CD makes reasonable sense; now that he’s much older, he comes off as having much better restraint on his emotions and coming off as genuinely calm, but he’s still not one for flattery, and you can still see very minor slips in his facade every so often.

Armadimon also initially seems like a sharp contrast to Iori in terms of demeanor, in that he’s much more casual and laid-back, and he’s indeed a huge factor in reminding Iori to chill once in a while -- but, much like Iori, he prods and asks questions about anything he’s curious about. This initially seems to be out of simple-mindedness because, being a Digimon, he doesn’t understand human society that well, but his very basic questions often end up snapping Iori back to reality in realizing that he’s getting hung up on things that don’t actually make practical sense. Urawa also felt that Armadimon fills in some of the void that Iori’s late father left behind, in that he provides Iori with unconditional love and helps guide him.

Takeru and Patamon

Takeru is the kind of person who seems to dislike major disruptions to the status quo, so he doesn’t say anything inflammatory that’ll rock the boat. It’s very difficult to get him to talk about serious topics related to his deeper personal feelings (02 episode 17, 35, Spring 2003), and even when it’s clear he might have more misgivings on the situation, unless it’s an urgent situation where it needs to be brought up, he won’t voice his misgivings too clearly for the sake of not causing trouble (hence why Daisuke is so unsure what to make of him in the early episodes of the series, because Takeru constantly fails to clarify his own position in favor of a “good for you” or “sure, you keep believing that if you want” attitude). This also makes him the most likely to awkwardly change the subject or try to distract with small talk, and it means that, even when he’s saying cheerful, pleasant things, it’s very likely there’s pain or uncertainty under that initial facade. (Note that while his suspicions of Ken during 02 episodes 25 and 27 aren't nearly as vicious as Iori's turn out to be, we learn that he's still willing to quietly accuse Ken of working for his own self-satisfaction in the latter episode, but he never brings this up to anyone but himself.)

Because Takeru isn’t  necessarily doing this to be consciously dishonest, it does mean that he also has positive applications of this tendency to take everything in stride and keep the peace, because he ends up keeping the more extreme personalities in the rest of the group in line and acts as an effective mediator. You could say that he has a pretty high amount of tolerance and a capacity for taking everyone’s points of view in mind. However, since it’s also very difficult to tell what he himself is thinking, his use of this as a poor coping mechanism for his personal trauma leads to a tendency for him to suddenly explode in a mess of emotions whenever something gets too personal, leading to sudden conflict, and with others at a loss in terms of how to deal with him (the most extreme example being 02 episode 19, but also present in 13, 11, and 34). This “two-sidedness” is why it ends up having to be the more consciously methodical Iori who steps up to try and understand him better as his Jogress partner.

Fortunately, Takeru shows signs of becoming more straightforward in the aftermath, although you can see that he still has a penchant for mild flattery and “trying to hold back for the sake of not being rude” all the way up to Kizuna (but, again, this can’t be said to necessarily be a bad thing when it means he has a valuable skill as a mediator).

Takeru has a fairly neutral speech pattern that comes off as casual but not too aggressive or assertive (not as absurdly polite as Iori’s, but slightly less assertive than Ken’s).

Patamon initially still seems to be “immature” in the same way he was in Adventure, which initially seems to widen the gap in personality between him and Takeru, but looking closer reveals that the differences aren’t as big as they seem; Patamon seems to have gained a capability for slyness and active trolling behind his playfulness (see 02 episode 7), not entirely like Takeru starting to use his evasiveness in a teasing-like manner. Moreover, Patamon does actually seem to have gained a bit of proper maturity in the meantime; see how he instructs the Baby Digimon on convenience store food in 02 episode 3, and in general seems much more willing to take independent action in ways he didn’t always in Adventure. Noticeably, Takeru’s difficulty with his own convoluted feelings means that he can’t even have a proper heart-to-heart with him about it on the situation (most glaring in 02 episode 34, where it’s implied that Takeru would rather leave Patamon to be happy right now instead of bothering him about it), especially because he’s clearly having difficulty even working it out with himself. However, despite their ostensible differences in mentality, Takeru and Patamon have no difficulty getting along at all in 02, and, other than Takeru pampering Patamon a bit, there isn’t all that strong of an impression of them being so mismatched -- perhaps because, in the end, they really aren’t all that different.

Hikari and Tailmon

Taichi stated in Adventure episode 48 that Hikari has a problem where she's so selfless and thinking of others that she'll never speak up about her own problems. Hikari states in 02 episode 31 that she compulsively cannot speak out about her own feelings even if she wanted to, to the point she’s jealous of Miyako for being able to be more open (even if it means being overkill at times). As a result: if Hikari’s talking about “the right thing to do”, or something for everyone’s sake, or something that’s relevant to other people and what’s best for them, she will be extremely vocal and quick to act, and she’s not above even chipping in with criticisms (see: 02 episodes 19, 32, 44). In fact, she’s fully capable of being playful or toying with others if she really wants to (see how she casually manipulates Daisuke into calling a lunch break for everyone in 02 episode 6).

The moment the issue at hand is about herself, though -- her own feelings or pain, or something that might hurt others’ feelings (hence the presumable reason she dodges Daisuke’s affections rather than proactively doing anything about it), or something that would put a burden on others for her own sake -- she completely clams up and refuses to do or say anything, and when bad things start happening to her, she resigns herself to her own fate and concludes she can’t do anything about it. Hence, why she takes such a defeatist attitude towards the Dark Ocean swallowing her up in 02 episodes 13 and 31, and why it’s such a big deal if she even so much as asks for help. 02 episode 31 indicates that Miyako reaching out to her is an important step in breaking her out of her shell, and the Kizuna drama CD -- which has Hikari assertively declare something she personally wants -- heavily implies further that Miyako was instrumental to this becoming possible.

Hikari is compassionate for others to the very end, expresses pity for BlackWarGreymon as early as 02 episode 31, and catches on quickly to Ken’s feelings on himself in 02 episode 37 (and even back when she’d been more skeptical about him in 02 episode 25, she never seemed to have real personal distaste against him as much as she still wanted to make sure he was trustworthy first). But although she’s one of the most compassionate in the group, she’s also one of the most assertive in the group. This leads to something that initially seems like a paradox: she’s actually more fervent about the need to fight than the more aggressive Miyako is. Miyako is, ultimately, emotionally caught up in everything and briefly falls apart at having killed LadyDevimon in 02 episode 44 (even despite knowing how horrible of a person she’d been), but Hikari is the one who points out that there would have been more victims if they hadn’t. 02 episodes 25 and 43 had made it abundantly clear that Hikari didn’t like it at all, but she states in 02 episode 37 repeatedly that they need to prevent there from being victims -- meaning that she values the importance of protecting all lives, including those who would be hurt in the process, and thus has some of the more resilient guts when it comes to the prospect of fighting to save others. Again, her hesitation only comes into play at its worst when it has to do with herself; working to save others is a no-brainer.

Hikari uses a casual feminine speech pattern that’s less in-your-face than Miyako’s, but she’s still a bit more casual than she was in Adventure, when she used the more polite watashi instead of atashi. Interestingly, Tailmon herself seems to have mirrored this as well, presumably because now that she’s had more time to recover from her miserable life under Vamdemon, she’s able to enjoy her life a bit more freely. This means that, while Tailmon is still the most mature and put-together of the Digimon partners in the 02 group, she sometimes acts a little more casual and playful in a similar way to Hikari, and while she has a certain degree of stuffy personal pride (see how she wasn’t very amused at how frivolously the other Digimon were playing around in 02 episode 3), she’s still open to enjoying herself a little more freely. Hikari, for her part, becomes surprisingly like-minded with her during those times -- see them in 02 episode 12 -- and, as stated earlier, it’s not like Hikari isn’t up for making tough decisions when they’re needed, either.

[jippy-kandi]

Digimon Adventure: 2020 – Episode 45: Activate, MetalGarurumon (Review)

Thoughts on the forty-fifth episode of the Digimon Adventure reboot series.

I . . . was not impressed with this episode. I did kinda like it because it had a lot of Yamato, but . . . I just expected more for a Mega evolution episode. It really shouldn’t have been a filler episode.

Narration: “Yamato and Gabumon showed signs of a new power. And now, that true form is about to be revealed.” Why does the narration insist on spoiling the episode?! :P Of course, the episode title does too, lol. But MetalGarurumon 100% should’ve happened in the episode where they “showed signs of a new power” . . . and not in this unremarkable episode.

I like how just in the previous episode, the kids didn’t have time to spare, and only conceded a bit of time to eat (a necessity) . . . but now they’re open to spending an entire (useless) day at a racing circuit. Wow, Toei, you really planned this series SO well!

Gabumon: “Yamato . . . I wanna run!” OK, I admit, Gabumon was super cute when he said this. The cutest he has ever been. But this sudden interest and passion in running is so abrupt and over-the-top? Also . . . DID YOU NOT RUN ENOUGH FOR 7000 LIFETIMES, NON-STOP, FOR TWO MONTHS OFF-SCREEN???

Machmon has a cool voice. I like him. But he’s a little too serious.

LMAO at the instant Garurumon was going to overtake Machmon - and Machmon got angry and started cheating. XD;

WTF, Garurumon just TOSSED YAMATO OFF HIM . . . at speed . . . and Yamato is completely fine. Ridiculous! :P

Why Gabumon/Yamato cared so much about Machmon (A CHEATING COMPETITOR) is beyond me. Toei, you actually need to develop bonds and friendships! DO THIS FOR THE EIGHT CHILDREN, TOO!

Gabumon smacks into a wall and has a bandage on his nose and one arm to show for it, lol. OK, fair. :P

Machmon tried to kill Gabumon in a death race to remain the racing champion . . . and everyone is OK with this? Let's just race??? You don't usually befriend people so quickly - especially when they tried to murder you . . . over a race. =| This is just ridiculous. I know, I know, it's a kids' show . . . but what are you teaching kids here? If someone tries to kill you (OVER A RACE), just befriend them!? It'll turn out OK! FRIENDSHIPS SOLVE EVERYTHING! Even attempted murder. Over a race! . . . OK, I’m over it now. :P

Yamato: "That sudden shift in Machmon during the race. Machmon supposedly lost control . . . but there's more to it . . . something else. If we race, we might find that answer." Well, a flimsy excuse to do the race, but OK I suppose! It’s actually fine, but how everyone reacted to Machmon’s attempted murder on Gabumon/Yamato, and their attitudes about the race going ahead, is just bizarre . . .

Jou as the announcer with his Digivice microphone was fun, though!

OMG, Sora, Mimi and Hikari cheering for Garurumon (and, by extension, Yamato) in Lillymon-esque cheerleading outfits was I-C-O-N-I-C. And poor Takeru! LMAO. Plus we all know Sora is really cheering for her man, Yamato. Thanks, Toei, I forgive you for all your sins now. :)

Koushirou informs everyone that Parasimon has infected Machmon and blah blah blah. Really? This was worthy of a Mega evolution? *rolls eyes*

Yamato . . . kicked . . . a Digimon . . . lmao. He looked cool in the beginning, though! What a total Chad. *love heart eyes* Chaos on Discord coined the term “Chadmato” - so that’s his name now. :3

Yamato: “We’ve raced together [Machmon] . . . We’re friends!” Is that really how it works, Yamato? If so, can I race you as well, please? x)

WereGarurumon is way too attached to someone he just met (who also attempted to murder him during a race . . .). The feeling is nice - but it’s also just out of nowhere and doesn’t feel that genuine or believable.

Yamato: “Even if you’re tormented by your mistakes or solitude, don’t give up! You must overcome your past, your present, and move forward!” This was a nice little speech before the Mega evolution and gave it some weight, I suppose. So, yay? I dunno. Whatever?

I really liked the Mega evolution sequence to MetalGarurumon, though! <3 And Jou’s reaction to his evolution was funny. XD;

But MetalGarurumon vs. Parasimon was a non-event, seriously. Like . . . REALLY? The Mega evo should’ve happened against that crazy cult Digimon. Sigh.

MetalGarurumon is a total boss, though. And he’s so BIG! Yamato looks so tiny on him. XD;

Yamato runs like he has toilet paper stuck between his arse cheeks, lol.

Yamato, Gabumon and Machmon crossed the finish line at the same time . . . Yamato is a tiny mortal and he can keep up with them!? These Digimon be slow AF. :P Also gotta quote Crispy on Discord: “Now Yamato allows participation awards for races. -_-” XD;

It was an OK filler episode . . . but for a Mega evolution? Utterly underwhelming and a giant disappointment. I know COVID messed with Toei’s plans, but still . . . they really have such a thin arse plot that they had to pad out the series with a Mega evolution filler episode. That’s just next level bad. I need people fired, Toei!

The next episode looks to be better at least . . . Takeru to the rescue! Even though they’re apparently resurrecting a storyline from 7869 years ago . . .

(Apologies for the late review. Sometimes I get carried away socialising with people on our Discord server and . . . well, I end up having to watch/review the episode on a later day! :D)

[youranimelover]

Invisible (Bakugou x f! reader)

Invisible

~~~

Genre: fluff :)

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x female reader

Word count:  707 words

Synopsis: It’s summer and the weather is hot. Needless to say that you got a heat stroke and your boyfriend worries

Masterlist

~~~

Today was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, allowing everyone to have a warm temperature for the end of August. The wind blew a little but struggled to refresh the students of U.A. who nevertheless took advantage of the heat to eat outside.

You were with the girls in class 1-B because you were also part of it chatting while you were finishing your meal, and your boyfriend, Bakugou  Katsuki, was with his 1-A friends on their side.

Your group's conversation ended up talking about your unpredictable relationship. Everyone knew the blond temperament, so knowing you two were a couple was unimaginable, until you confessed to your respective classes that you were together.

From your revelation, your classmates realized how he was since he was with you: a little quieter. Even if he was willing to attack anyone who dared to speak ill of your relationship, but especially of you.

The lunch break was quickly over, and all the students went back to class.

Your friends got up, and you did the same, narrowly collapsing suddenly. At the general request of your friends, you went with them to the infirmary.

Your two classes were going to train together in the afternoon to diversify the opponents during combat training, and you were going to miss it due to sunstroke.

Meanwhile, the boys in both classes were almost all present in the arena and decided to ask Shoto for help in the hope that the ice he was creating could calm the heat they all felt.

Katsuki, on his own, was standing in a corner, not wanting to get close, believing that not bearing the heat was being a weak person. Despite this, he checked if you were near the little herd around the young iceman, but he did not see you and did not know if you were using your alter or not, he decided to call you right when your friends entered the arena.

"-(y/n)?"

He had no answer.

Kendo Itsuka, your best friend, having heard him call you, approached him and said:

"-(y/n) went to the infirmary just before classes started. She wasn't feeling well because of the heat.

-Ah? he replied, annoyed that he had not been informed by you.”

Katsuki was ready to head to the infirmary when Aizawa, followed closely by Professor Kan of Class 1-B, All Might, and Midnight entered to teach. He had to spend the rest of the afternoon taking the class without knowing if you were okay.

After picking up his belongings in class, as well as yours in yours, he left the U.A. building, and walked to the dorms.

He walked quietly, lost in his thoughts, wondering if you'd already come back to the dorms.

But that was not the case. You've been in the infirmary for the duration of the classes to make sure you were better, or at least Recovery Girl thought you were. When you returned to the class where you had been taught in the morning, you noticed that all the belongings of your classmates were no longer there, as were yours. So, you assumed that one of the girls had been kind enough to take your things and you decided to finally go to the dorms.

On your way, you saw your boyfriend walking gently towards the dorms as well, and you realized that he didn't have only his stuff, indeed, your lover also had yours with him.

Feeling much better and being more on the playful side than your boyfriend, you decided to make a little joke to your lover.

You made yourself invisible thanks to your quirk and walked towards him very gently so that he would not hear you.

Once you were close to him, you took a deep breath and shouted with all your strength:

"-KATSUKI!"

This frightened him to the utmost.

"-(Y/N)! ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS? »

You started laughing at his reaction, while becoming visible again.

He rolled his eyes before passing your bag which he held with his left hand in his right hand to carry your two bags on the same side, leaving his left arm free to rest on your shoulders once you had calmed down.

"-Let's get in, you dumb nerd."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you liked it :D

tagging you because you asked it with your old account: @stephiecarie​

taglist:

@babykatsu​

@hikari-writes​

[dutchforstrangers]

EXTRA! DIGIWEEK DAY 5 - CROSSOVER

Let's do some headcanons, shall we? Last week @imaginedigimon posted these headcanons of a mixed Asian/Hispanic Sora and it led me to this:

In the Heights... I LOVE this musical so much <3 All the latino and dancing and vibing and yes! Here's the trailer:

And like I said, those mixed Asian/Hispanic headcanons gave me the reason to think of In the Heights x Digimon Adventure crossover headcanons. And what better day to write such a post than on Crossover day 5 of @digiweek! So here goes.

The story

The story here is basically the same. There's a guy (Usnavi) with a store, inherited from his deceased parents, who has this dream to go back to the land he was born in, thinking that's his dream. However he was raised on this block in this city he's living in now, so eventually he's torn between leaving or staying. Simultaneously all the other characters have their own aspirations and dreams, but they shouldn't forget where they came from. That's the main theme and story, the characters will be quite the same from the movie/musical, but with some changes here and there suiting the Chosen Children and the relationships between them (for now I will only cover the 8 Digimon Adventure 01 crew members).

I want the set up to be a little different though. So it's not like a latino block on the Island Manhattan in NYC, but it's more like a city or village on it's own. Something like Big Hero 6's 'San Fransokyo'... Maybe 'Santo Dotokyo'? Could be. Anyway, it's a mix of Latino and Japan (that's actually a very weird combination. I like it!).

How about pairings you may ask?? You'll find out when you proceed reading ;D

The characters

Usnavi / Taichi Yagami: Of course my boy is the lead! He's smooth yet awkward, fierce yet cute, determined yet clueless. Sounds like our goggle headed fella right? So Taichi owns the store, like a true work-a-holic works very very hard. He's friendly, always supporting and beaming positivity. He knows the whole community and the whole community knows him, everyone well aware of his father's dream to patch up the bar on the exotic island they came from. Taichi though is still figuring out his dream and is torn between staying for the community (and his love interest...) or leaving for his (father's?) dream. Plus let's not forget he has some very serious salsa skills like a true latino! The dancing is on, gosh how much I love my Taichi swaying...

Nina / Hikari Yagami: Taichi's younger sister, kind and innocent, who followed their mother's dream to study abroad. The community believed in her and fully supported her like the little light she is, she being the first one to 'make it out'. However during her time abroad she starts to feel lonely and left out, gets homesick and travels back to her hometown and brother with the idea to never go back abroad. Though she just needs the courage to go through and that convincing might come from her community, her brother and her lover.......

Sonny / Koushiro Izumi: In this universe Koushiro, who works with Taichi in the shop, is a 'cousin' from Taichi and Hikari! He has been abandoned by his own mother -who probably was someone with a drug addict- but then he was taken in by Taichi's and Hikari's aunt and uncle..! Yes, this makes Kae a blood relative to Taichi and Hikari, being Yuuko's sister (I love that idea, although it makes both Taishiro and Koukari impossible...). Koushiro is a smart kid, quiet, but always there with his words right on time. He wants to go to college or university badly, the smart kid he is, but because he was never officially adopted and therefore isn't fully registered, his chances are low... Taichi and the community might be of help here.

Vanessa / Sora Takenouchi: WEPA VANESSA SORA! In the musical Vanessa aspires to become a fashion designer. Oh hey, that's such a Sora! Where Hikari wants to come home, Sora desperately wants to leave everything behind to start anew. She works in Mimi's beauty salon only to make money so she can move to a bigger city. It's kind of like a rebellion against her traditional mother who wants her to stay in the community and take over the flower shop. However she might be staying as fashion inspiration can also come from within the community and a certain someone she loves *cough*Taichi*cough*, but doesn't want to admit (this is a very self indulgent Taiora AU thank you very much).

Daniela / Mimi Tachikawa: The salon lady! Or boss is better. She is an entrepreneur pur sang and makes sure everyone looks good with beautiful nails and shiny hair! She's fierce, doesn't take no for an answer (no nonsense policy yup) and always has her eyes and ears open. And her mouth too, because the girl looooooves to gossip! Especially with her two salon companions (from which one HAS to be Miyako -and yes Mimi and Miyako are the lesbian couple-), ¡No me diga! Also: she absolutely loves to tease employee Sora by telling untrue rumors about Taichi just to see how Sora reacts. So sly Meems.

Benny / Takeru Takaishi: This might come as a surprise, because to be honest Taichi would fit Benny so well. But I went for Takeru as Benny, because Takeru can be just as smooth -and kinda sly-. Takeru is one of Taichi's best friends if not thé best friend (I love to explore that dynamic)! A best friend with a love interest in the best friend's sister a.k.a. Hikari. They are secret lovers who are not as secretly in love (Nina Kari and Benny Keru sitting in a tree... k i s s i n g) as they think they are. Takeru works across the street in a record store (yes, this is a big difference from the musical itself) where he takes over the community radio station in the morning. There he has a story telling podcast, telling fictional stories based on the stories of the community (Mimi always informs him with the latest gossip). Eventually he wants to go to college, just like Hikari studies abroad, to become a writer.

(Graffiti) Pete / Yamato Ishida: This is even more of a stretch, but bear with me! Graffiti Pete is a true artistic lone wolf! Spraying art on walls through the whole city and it's absolutely fabulous. He's Takeru's older brother, but was raised by his father after their parents splitted up, and also friends with the gang. Though he may have made some art on the window shutters from Taichi's shop... However, Yamato is not only a graffiti artist, he's also a musician, always 'borrowing' stealing records from the shop Takeru is working. Yamato is just a very mysterious guy, but also a very nice friend with artistic and deep emotional help from unexpected corners.

Piragüero / Jyou Kido: Haha okay, this is weird..! Actually this is great role for Daisuke, but because we're here giving the roles to the Adventure 01 cast, this one goes to Jyou. Simply because piragua (which is shaved ice) guy has a heart of gold and is super reliable, one of the oldest ones on the block, one who has seen it all. He's also a bit silly, doing this horrible work on the street, while he failed to become a doctor (so sad), but he brings joy to others! And also great advice, especially when it comes to following dreams no matter how big or small. Jyou is the one who doesn't let you forget where you came from!

And there are so many more headcanons I could come up with, so this might gets a continuation eventually. But for now, this is it (:

[rurulaura]

digimon tri. rant thing

So, I was making new screenshots of Meiko for the last few weeks to make a phone wallpaper with. Kind of shocking I never did that before isn’t it? As someone who is so obsessed... 

So anyway, I was rewatching the series, but fast forwarding to Meiko’s scenes. Doing so made me realize that more things bothered me about the series than I remembered. 

I didn’t realize how I wasn’t the only one that thought this not in such a rage mindset. I ran a salt blog between part 1 and 4 where I shitposted. THat blog is now deleted. But I was so emotionally angry, that I couldn’t think straight, if that makes sense. I couldn’t put the logic to my emotions.

It’s been a few years and “rewatching” tri. brought these feelings back, but now I can look at it more logically.. I’m more mentally sound, so I was to see more. Hah, taichi’s goggles reference. See more, understand less. Get it? Well anyway. It ended up a little long. Enjoy.

Initially, anything that bothered me I tried to come up with an explanation for. I just thought back then, surely I am just not a deep enough person to fully comprehend what is obviously here. I don’t remember the last I rewatched tri., probably last year, but this darn pandemic makes feel it’s been a decade. The situation with the 02 kids is something I tried to come up with an explanation for. 

Sure, I can see the lead up to their disappearance, discovering Maki’s and Yggdrasil’s plan. Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking too. (Ok, but a detective/ hacker 02 squad? How can you say no to that! Can you blame me???) But ultimately, now that I look back on it. Just doesn’t make sense. 

\The four of them would have definitely called the other chosen for help. Daisuke and Miyako might be irrational at times, but I think even they would have realized they couldn’t hadle this.  Miyako and Iori would have definitely needed Hikari and Takeru by their side for Jogress. They would realized they would  need Koushirou for contact. Taichi and Yamato for Omegamon. Plus, the timeline for Reunion to Determination seems to be 2 months. They would have 1,000,000,000% have realized four of their friends were missing. The six of them are hanging out together. Miyako, HIkari, Takeru, and Daisuke are not just in the same grade, But I bet you they are still in the same darn school. I tried to make sense of this. Maybe this would make sense in a week period. But honestly. These 6 idiots would have known. 

In Determination, mysterious man shows up as the “Digimon Kaiser” and no one bats an eye. They all 100% think that’s Ken. After everything that poor kid has been through. and to top it all off Imperialdramon. You think Ken would EVER not only USE someonelse’s Digimon for his own doing, BUT PUT HIS PARTNER AND HIS BEST FRIEND’S PARTNER IN POTENTIAL DANGER? TO ACCOMPLISH WHAT EXACTLY? No. Absoulutely not. 

In Loss, when “gennai” was blowing up the kids with Mugendramon, one of the kids said “IS that really Gennai?” Then Takeru responds, “No way . Gennai would never do this!”

Takeru, TK. Teeks. Honey, remember how that old geezer didn’t even show up until half way through your adventure to guide you? Remember three years later when he didn’t appear until the world was pretty ending? YOU TRUST THAT GEEZER MORE THAT YOUR FRIEND. How freaking dare you. It was bad enough when Sora also said “Oh, stop Ichijouji-kun!” When she was pinned down and sexually harassed by mysterious man. 

I remembered trying to defend this. Saying “Oh, they just didn’t know what to call him.” In Japan there are so many ways to refer to someone in third person. Just like for the non-binary community,  They ask to be called “they/them”. It’s not that difficult to find those third person pronouns in English. I mean, even we have had nicknames. Dark Gennai, Kennai, Mysterious Man. 

There are some other nuances that didn’t make sense to me in the series. Like in part 5, when Meiko is sitting outside the school after having spoken with Taichi Agumon shows up in front of her. Agumon talks about how he wasn’t scared of the scary story she told. Agumon then states “I love Meicoomon, and I know she loves you too!”. I never got why Meiko teared up and hugged Agumon. I don’t get how that was comforting. 

Also in part 5, no one is suprised that Daigo could get into the Digital WOrld? I’m pretty disappointed that they basically used the Original Chosen Children for plot only. Because none of the kids cared that “Hey! How come you can get into the Digital World without a Digivice?” Or Taichi caring in the basement with the 02 kids/gennai with Daigo talking Maki also having partner. Why did you introduce them in this way, if you were just using for plot purposes? You can say, “Oh, it’s just time constraints.”

But there’s so much in tri. where you can say that to. It really does show how sloppy tri. was. 

We never really got to see much of Meiko’s personality. As a kid she’s shown as a happy go lucky kid. Seems like adventuring/exploring. I.e. “Meicoomon and I would always play in the woods behind my house.” She also knows to how to make fire. Cool skill. Seen drawing. Cool. 

Ok, so what happened in those 6 years to make her to traumatized that she’s so withdrawn and selfloathing? Were she and Meicoomon being chased for that long? Targeted? Without any of the 12 knowing? Koushirou made a huge Chosen Child database, wouldn’t they know if a Chosen Child out there was in that much danger? WOuldn’t they know the DIgital WOrld was being attacked and put in danger by a mutation? Why logically move her to Tokyo 6 years later to “protect her”. Yeah, I get it. For plot reasons. It’s just sloppy.

Like, the transfer student trope is done in anime alllll the time. But this one obviously screams plot convinience. Then to top it off, Meiko moves BACK to Tottori. Why? I get being mortified that you asked your new friends to kill your partner. That you feel you don’t deserve their friendship and that’ll close you off to others. But why move in a 5 month span? Look, I know it’s anime and things don’t have to make sense. But when you have so many plot points just for convenience, it’s sloppy! So poor! 

Like, Meiko could just stay in Tokyo. And the end of tri. is just the 12 of them at her door with presents and they have a christmas party. You can still have a one off character live in the same city. Michael and Wallace still live in New York as far I know. and hey, wallace even got a cameo in Kizuna! 

Also,, in part 2. Mimi has a discussion with Meiko in the clothing store that Mimi can’t stand people that aren’t honest with themselves. This bothers Meiko. I thought this was just because Meiko knew of the infection and didn’t tell anyone. But later in part 3, Meiko says she knew Meicoomon was special, but not that it would come to this. So the reaction there doesn’t make sense. 

Other inappropriate reactions consist of Agumon’s constant “I’m hungry!” jokes during serious moments. “It’s comedy releif for the dark scenes!” For a few sure, not constantly through out 6 movies. It got really old really fast. That also just doesn’t fit their personalities.  Patamon’s ship bait in part 6 was not cool. 

Also, really don’t like the girls in bikinis. Didn’t like it either. Still makes sense to not like it now. 

I think those are my biggest gripes. I’m going rewatch adventure and 02 at some point. I’ll probably have more gripes about the older cast. 

[fizzingwizard]

Digimon Adventure: Ep 19!

Wow! That certainly was an Episode!! It was pretty fun from start to finish, though nothing mind-blowing, but it was definitely the ending that made me gasp. Not wholly unexpected to an old turnip like me, but promising lots of fun (and angst!).

Picture of the week: MIKO, THE TRUE STAR OF THE SERIES!!

no for serious are the writers reading my reviews? they keep giving me what I want. within reason I guess. They seem to have an extremely limited budget as usual x’D

but Miko is still adorbs

ok I’m really looking forward to recapping this one so let’s get to it!

So last week I thought the kids sans Taichi and Yamato were abducted by Devimon, but apparently that either isn’t the case, or it was, but then Devimon decided it’s best just to dump the kids back on Earth and hold on to their partners. Because that’s the current situation. While concerning that the kids are separated from their partners, it’s probably best this way, since Devimon appears to be sending Gesomon(?) and Parrotmon(?)

to the human world, if I remember right. It’s hard to remember what happened in the first fifteen seconds kay So when the kids find their partners it will probably be in the human world and they can fight back.

Meanwhile Taichi and Yamato are alone and very Confuse

Taichi tries frantically to contact Koushirou. The others too... but especially Koushirou.

Finally he gets him!! He’s so happy!! My Taishiro heart flutters!

But I was fully expecting it to be a trap. When I saw this still here, my first thought was “Devimon’s forcing him to tell Taichi a lie by threatening him with a gun!!”

of course thats not whats happening. Koushirou is relatively fine and there are no guns (yet). What’s happened is the other kids have been sent back to the human world for reals this time!

This show is not even bothering to hide its Taiyama angle.

They spend the entire episode giving each other Significant Looks like this. The entire episode.

Now where’s Jou through all of this, you ask?

He went to talk to the police. He’s shocked they don’t believe his story about monster attacks and the world ending (well, at least Tokyo ending). I freaking love how taaaaall Jou is. Though it makes Koushirou look like a bean x’D

Jou = beansprout / Koushirou = bean

Koushirou has a much easier time dealing with the news that the police don’t believe them. He’s a denizen of the Internet. He knows how people’s minds work. And he has tons of chat logs to prove it.

People are chatting and spreading gossip and disbelief and complaints, but my favorite is the comment that just says “It’s a flood of fake news” xP

The home team runs into Mama Yagami! Who Sora literally calls Mama Yagami! x’D I mean I know that’s how kids generally refer to their friends’ parents but I still lol’d.

So un... Jou is almost as tall as Mama Yagami. LMAO. I’m gonna assume she’s short. Jou might indeed be quite tall for his age but Sora and Mimi are pretty close to Mama Yagami’s height too. I guess we haven’t seen Taichi standing next to his mom yet! With his hair he’s probably taller than her.

So Mama Yagami is HILARIOUS and I’m so glad that’s a continuing thing in the reboot! She was already that way in 99 Adventure, but we’re just seeing a lot of it now - like every time she’s around. (And we didn’t see it in Tri so I missed that.) Basically she seems like a basketcase. Not a totally irresponsible one, more like just... generally the carefree go with the flow type. Which is not bad. She just also seems a bit, uh, ditzy?? I think Taichi probably grew to be so serious by necessity. Dad’s busy with work and someone’s gotta make sure mom doesn’t leave the house without her keys!

The way Sora just stares at Hikari like “explain??” after Mama Yagami thrusts Miko at her and runs off to get her car with a big smile as if they hadn’t all nearly died recently... bahahaha.

also I love how she doesn’t even bother asking her son’s good friend if she knows where he is after not seeing or hearing from him for three full days

^The face of a boy shouldering the weight of nuclear family life and all its batshitness

Taichi and Yamato determine their priority is find the Holy Digimon. I wish they were a little more concerned with what happened to their friends’ partners, but I guess this is the only goal with solid clues. Anyway before they can do anything they are attacked by Bulbmon Looks like subtitlers went with Valvemon which also works, who looks like a Lego monster creation by an eight year old (and probably is).

He has the Domo face. Grrraaah

Domo is NHK mascot by the way. bahahaha

Next these guys come swarming out of Valvemon. (And if we didn’t already get it, apparently Digimon can construct other Digimon as we’ve seen before.) Nothing is quite as freaky as gas masks. They are commanded by Minotaurmon/Mintaromon whatever.

They too have the aim of Stormtroopers though so our heroes will be fine...

... probably...

... then Leomon finally shows up!! Yay! He looks good! All beefy and scarred and sounding exactly like Zaraki Kenpachi. Uhh. Is it the same VA?? Nothing comes up in the Google search so maybe not but it sure sounds like him. (Minotaurmon and Ogremon also sound like Leomon... while it’s normal for VAs in kids shows to voice multiple characters esp minor ones, it literally sounds like Zaraki Kenpachi is the voice of all the characters in this episode besides the main ones. And Mama Yagami of course because that would be weird.)

Leomon may look cool, but his ride... and his friends... uh, less cool x’D I want to strangle that ostrich thing with its own scarf somehow it inspires violent emotion in me

In the smallest, most shocked voice, Yamato says, “Leomon...?” It’s honestly kind of adorable. He’s clearly remembering what Neemon said about Leomon leading the resistance way back when.

Leomon helps them escape. Taichi very considerately and cutely helps Agumon aboard the fashion disaster ostrich emu thing.

Yamato also considerately helps his partner but rather less cutely xD

Leomon takes them to his hideout and gives them your standard fare of weird-looking Digi fruit. He then proceeds to tell them about Devimon and that he is trying to infiltrate Valvemon yadda yadda.

Taichi is freaking ADORABLE, immediately concerned that by saving their asses, Leomon’s battle plans have been ruined. Leomon waves that aside though. Yamato is equally adorabibble when he asks after Neemon and gets told that they made it to Leomon safely.

Leomon plans to try to get into Valvemon again because he knows Devimon’s put something related to the holy Digimon in there. Taichi is determined to join in. He doesn’t have much of an argument as it why they should be allowed when they just got their butts kicked so easily, but he has a trick up his sleeve: the Burning Eyes of Fiery Passion.

Not to be outdone, Yamato shoots off his Icy Eyes of Cold Determination.

Faced with this twin assault, Leomon has to give in. Ahh, I remember last week when we saw the trailer for this ep and I naively thought Leomon would train them like Piximon did in 99 Adventure. Nope. They’ve just met and they’re already spy buddies.

Okay, okay, yeah Leomon does seem to have some knowledge of the “Chosen Children” and that’s his real motivation. Still.

They break into Valvemon and we get the excellent invention of Agumon riding on Garurumon. I assume because of Garurumon’s advantageous speed. That seems to be recurring thing in this show.

Idk I just capped this because he’s so darn cute

I don’t know why I capped this one though.

They enter some sort of central space where Leomon tells them something relevant to the holy Digimon is being kept. (Lol I already forgot the details of what he said.) There are two protectors, Minotaurmon and Bullmon. Leomon tells the kids to take Bullmon while he faces down Minotaurmon. These guys might have been somewhat intimidating if we hadn’t already got Perfect level evolutions mastered, not to mention the occasional Jogress :P Sooo I didn’t feel too worried.

... uh, never mind x’D Taichi what are you doing

Yamato saves his idiot butt and almost gets in a bind himself. Once again I’m just wondering why they are sticking at Adult level. Whatever. They win of course

Leomon uses his Fist of the Beast King to maim Minotaurmon. His brilliant one-liner? “I have more than one first.”

Bully: *punches you*

You: ow

Bully: *smirk* I have more than one fist.

You: That’s funny, I only have one, but it’s made of titanium *You punch the bully straight through the stratosphere* Quality over quantity!!!!

*cough*

Our heroes approach the secret compartment supposedly holding something to do with the holy Digimon... Yamato gets a look inside and gets the black shadow of true terror over his eyes

becaue floating inside like some kind of Weapon X experiment is... Takeru!!!

Hold on while I put in my ear plugs. Okay, ready, screech all you want now.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

So... okay. First of all, baby Takeru is sooooooo cute <3 I had two predictions about what happened to Takeru last week. Either he ended up in the digital world and was now on his own, or he got abducted by Devimon. I thought the former was more likely, but in hindsight, it should have been obvious that it was the second. This show misses a lot of points where I feel like they could have developed some relationships or thrown in some drama, but it never passes up a chance for Yamato angst.

So yeah, this is pretty much gonna destroy Yamato xD Not only is the baby brother he wanted to protect no longer at home where he can easily protect him, he’s now in the digital world and in the enemy’s clutches.

I BETTER SEE REALLY TRAUMATIZED YAMATO NEXT WEEK. Of course, I expect him to be cool-headed enough to try to save Takeru, but I will be very disappoint if this goes off with no break downs at all. Takeru is always Yamato’s number one priority!

Super exciteddddd

So I give this ep 7.5/10. The .5 is pretty much for ending with a killer cliffhanger. My one real complaint about this ep is how highly plot-based everything is - we finally got the team all together only to split them up, and on top of that, once split up, we don’t even get all that many character moments between Taichi and Yamato. As I said, they give each other lots of Signifcant Looks, but man cannot live on bread alone. However this is par for the course for this show and I know I should stop mentioning it every week because I doubt it’s changing. We will get the big shockers when we get them and not a moment before.

I just want Yamato to cry in front of Taichi and make him all uncomfortable x’D That’s what made 99 Adventure so great bahahaha

Some cool bits from next week’s trailer:

Surprise surprise, Angemon is the holy Digimon! Or one of, anyway. And he is indeed trapped. This makes the “Angemon is Devimon” theory less likely. Let’s not forget that our heroes’ Digimon partners were evidently a band of powerful warriors in the past, but they’ve forgotten much of it. I won’t be surprised if the result of that war played a part in Angemon’s abduction.

Next week they’ll have to fight to save Takeru from being drained, I guess.

And then!! Digi egg! Excite. Also I only just noticed that his hate says TK!!!

Takeruuu <3 My first fav when I was 10. Though my heart has belonged to Taichi for many long years, I still have a special spot in it for Takeru only <3 Even if he does dress like a celery stick

[seventeenlovesthree]

I forget. Did you ever draw either Taichi or Koushiro having their, "oh..." moment about the other? You know, the classic, "oh, I'm in love with him," trope

I actually haven't put it to paper yet, but I DEFINITELY want to, because, on a pining scale, nothing even comes remotely close to the sheer heartache during the moment of realization - especially when you have two "nuts" like Taichi and Koushirou. I have mainly drawn cheesy stuff recently, with them either being clueless or in an established relationship already, because I craved some happiness for them. But the thing is - there are so many possibilities to pull this off, whether you take the canon OR (like me) one of various AUs as baseline.

Canon wise, you might have little moments between them here and there (like the card incident or the entirety of the Dark Masters arc in 01 or the camp scenes in 02) where one of them just... Wonders if this is normal. (In addition to Yamato completely losing it over the fact that they simply can't seem to grasp it.) That's usually the angst route, because once one has realized what's going on, they might be too afraid to approach it or fear that the other will not like them the same way. (Although canon also implies that Koushirou has enough of Taichi's sh*t and wants him to be honest - and Taichi having an emotional outburst is also a great opportunity to make a confession happen eventually.)

For my AUs, I have two scenes pretty clearly in my mind... One of them being a more aggressive version of the scene I recently drew about Koushirou confessing to Taichi that he's adopted. In a scenario in which they are best friends, Taichi would first confess to him about his past trauma with Hikari (they'd be in their mid-teens here), which causes Koushirou to contemplate the idea that Taichi has to be the first one he talks to about it. Koushirou might voice his concerns on how he wasn't sure Taichi would have looked at him differently and that it was difficult to come to terms with himself for the longest time and Taichi would just panic and shout the "BUT YOU ARE LOVED!" at him, grabbing him by the shoulders insistently, before he stammers "... By your parents, I mean, they love you very much." And when they depart, Koushirou thanks him for listening, Taichi reassures him once more - and once they're both alone at their respective homes, they have a classic "Stares at the ceiling, leans against closed door and collapses under the weight of their own feelings for each other after it FINALLY sank in" moment. Cries.

The other moment would be Christmas related - everyone remembers the Christmas episode in 02, right? I'd age them up 1-2 years and make the whole situation a bit more cheesy (I will write this as a fic as well one day): It's Christmas Eve and Tokyo has been riddled by digital distortions recently. The Chosen Children all plan to spend their Christmas differently: Mimi is with her parents celebrating in New York, Jyou has also travelled to the landside after his brother dragged him to have a time out for once. Yamato is having a concert once again and Sora, Taichi and Koushirou decide to attend it in the later afternoon, Takeru and Hikari are actually celebrating with the other 02 kids again. The Yagami family has a tradition of baking huge amounts of sweets on Christmas Eve, whereas the Izumi family plans to have a nice dinner in the evening, so Koushirou promises to be there in time - but before the concert even begins, he discovers another distortion and informs Taichi about it. Who just texts back "That sounds serious. Want to come over early?" and he hesitates, being a bit self-conscious. He had acquired a present for Taichi, but when Mimi made a huge deal about how "presents (and going out together) on Christmas Eve are such a romantic gesture here in Japan!", he started doing research and tries to figure out the meaning of all of this. Tentomon reassures him, but he doesn't quite know how to deal with it. But - distortions are serious, so he has to see him, right??? He promises Kae again that he will definitely be back home in time today and rushes over to the Yagamis - just to be greeted by Yuuko who said she sent her children to buy more ingredients (and she didn't let Taichi warn him beforehand). So they spend time baking until Taichi and Hikari rush back, Taichi is still grumpy about it, but they settle and have a good time after all (cue a scene in which Taichi just... Stares at the cookies Koushirou made and... tries to makes sense of that weird buzzing in his stomach as well). They'd then leave, escort Hikari over to the Motomiya residence, she wishes them "a nice date" (cue blushes and denial), they attend the concert, Sora is actually confessing this time, distortions happen, they have to fight... And succeed. In the end, Taichi accompanies Koushirou on his way back home as well - and the latter decides to actually hand him the present (it's the football tickets mentioned in this interview, because this is still the most romantic thing I can imagine for both of them being clueless teenagers). Taichi actually has something for him as well (it's a book on his current interest haven't decided what it is yet and ointment, since he has noticed that he rubbed his wrists a lot recently when working too long on his laptop) and they depart with bashful smiles, a "Merry Christmas, see you soon" on their lips - and the cheesy "looking against the ceiling, chest burning with sudden affection" moment once again. :D

... Sorry for the rant. I really want to write this one day. There are 7362628 other possibilities as well, but these are the most vivid to me. (I also have a dramatic/life or death situation fight scene in which Kou reaches out to Taichi and can't reach him due to their enemies keeping them separate and he just shouts "TAICHI!" without the -san and THAT is what snaps him out of a state of trance and it's a wake-up-call for both of them. I love my tropes, okay.)

(Also, the closest I ever drew of Koushirou having an “Oh” moment might still be this, haha.)

[tk-productions]

Mystic Sisters- Ch.20 Vampire Princess

Masterlist🌙🌹

Yua’s pov 

Hikari and I quickly went back to the hotel to grab our things while the boys waited outside. They ended up taking us to a house on the other side of Yokosuka since now were all being hunted. They have apparently been here before. They told us they had a safe house in case anything happened to them or if they needed to get away. I had so many questions. Like who is the VHA and why are they after us? Where did we get powers from? Why were they trying to bring us to the VHA. What the hell did Riyoshi do to Haru? We now sat at a table in the living room in silence. Riyoshi stared angrily at Akio while Hikari kept her head low. 

“I swear Akio-”

“What? Are you gonna put me in another headlock?” Akio asked, annoyed. Riyoshi stood up slamming his hands on the table in front of Akio.

“No this time I might actually kill you. We wouldn’t be in this mess if you weren't so in lo-” Riyoshi yelled but Akio kicked him, shutting him up for a moment. 

“Did you really just kick me?” Riyoshi said as his eyes got darker. He grabbed his shirt while Akio smirked. 

“Hit me, Nothing new.” He challenged. 

“Is anyone gonna tell us why we're here and why there are people coming after us?” I asked attempting to break up the soon to be fight. 

“Not right now princess.” Riyoshi said with anger still seething in his voice.

I cut my eyes at Riyoshi. “No, you're gonna explain now. We wouldn’t be running if you hadn’t been chasing us! Our life was fine until you guys waltzed in and ruined everything. Now we have nowhere to go.” That was partially true. We still had to deal with our parents and Saki but if it weren't for them then we wouldn't be where we are now.

Riyoshi aggressively let go of Akio, almost making him fall. “Who are you talking to?”

I looked around then back at him. “I mean you're the only Riyoshi here.” I looked at Akio “Why don’t you explain since your friend seems a bit slow and temperamental.”

They both stared at me. Akio was shocked at my boldness and Riyoshi was triggered. “Wow i’m talking to brick walls.” I looked at Hikari “Sis, we are as good as dead at this point, what are we gonna do?”

“You have a mouth on you.” Riyoshi finally spoke.

Riyoshi smirked at me and walked right in my face. “Let’s get one thing straight alright. I don’t take orders from you so watch your tone next time.”

“Well you see I don’t take orders either so we might have a problem.” and then I smiled in his face which caught him off guard but I wasn’t looking at him I was looking at the ice dagger now floating towards him. The dagger went above my head facing Riyoshi then I heard Hikari speak.

“Get out of my sister’s face or this will be in yours.” Hikari said tauntingly

Riyoshi glanced at Hikari and back at me. Before walking over to a nearby couch and leaning on the leg of it. “Wow you two are something else.”

“We get that alot now are gonna answer my question or not we need answers.” Akio walked over to Riyoshi and tapped him on the shoulder. “Might as well tell them.”

Riyoshi sighed and then looked at me. Obviously he was still triggered. “If you must know we worked for the VHA and were assigned to bring both of you back under a certain timeframe which we failed to do.”

“Bring us back for what and what is the VHA?”

“Well I wasn’t done so be quiet and listen.”

“Sorry.” I mumbled under my breath

“The guy you met yesterday was Levi, an underclassman of ours and very jealous of Akio and I. We don't get along so he jumped at the chance to make us look as though we were trader’s. The VHA is short for Vampire Hunter Association. Our boss wanted us to bring you two back but they didn’t give us a reason why.”

“Ok what does the Vampire Hunter Association want with us?” Then I started to think about the words Vampire Hunter and got even more confused. Riyoshi laughed and Akio laughed with him while Hikari and I just stared blank faced.

“Oh wow.” Riyoshi stopped laughing after registering our faces. “You two are actually serious.” I nodded my head.

 “Do you even know what you are.”Riyoshi asks me. 

I looked at him confused. “I’m human and in highschool what kind of question is that?”

“So, Is he always this aggressive?” Hikari asks Akio since they were both standing off to the side.

“Is SHE always this aggressive?” Akio answering a question with a question. Hikari just looked at him with a done face and just sat down before answering Akio. “She’s been like that her whole life sadly.”

“Same with him.” Akio answered.

Riyoshi looks at me with a blank expression before sighing. “Damn that’s tuff. I’m sorry to break it to you but you're a vampire princess.”

Hikari, getting excited, nearly flew off the ground and jumped up “ A princess!?”

Akio gives her a dirty look. “It’s just a metaphor, what's wrong with you?” he said, giving Riyoshi a look. 

“Is that what you heard?” Yua asked “he said we’re vampires and the only thing you picked up was princess?” she yelled. 

“I mean Vampires are pretty cool.” Hikari shrugged.

I sighed and turned back to Riyoshi. “Don’t vampires drink blood? I've never tasted an ounce of blood in my life.”

“You're a pureblood so the blood thirst should start once you fully awaken your powers and from what it looks like you've already started.”

“Is that why I can chug down a gallon of water in minutes?” Hikari chimes in

“Yea she's been extremely thirsty.”

“So she’s already feeling it. But you're not?”

“Nope, but she got her powers first.”

“Well then you’ll have to wait but both of you are pureblood vampires and purebloods are not from around here.”

“Where's your parent’s and how did they not tell you?” Akio asked in a confused tone.

“Well we were adopted when we were five and four years old. Our adoptive parents are human or well I think they are.” I said getting a little sad thinking about my mom. “Was she worried about us at all? We've been gone for almost two weeks and they haven't come to look for us. They didn't even call.”

“Now that I think about it. My boyfriend, what did you do to him?”

“I find it really sad you call that weakling your boyfriend.” Riyosohi shook his head in disappointment. “If you must know he was actually out looking for you and ran into us accusing us as your kidnappers. I mean that was our goal but we didn’t have you yet. He got annoying and I shut him up by putting a few daggers in him.”

I gasped and was about to say something until he continued to speak.

“Actually your  boyfriend got real lucky because I wanted to kill him but I didn’t have any wooden bullets for him.”

“Oh my god why would you need wooden bullets for Haru?!”

“Princess please don't tell me you're this slow.” He seemed as if he was going to tell me something until Akio elbowed him.

“What” I asked Riyoshi urging him to finish

“Oh I just love wooden bullets. Saves me a lot of money and I can make them more dangerous.”

“You have some serious issues.”

“Thanks for noticing. I have a knick for spilling blood, that's why I was one of the favorites of the VHA.”

I was slightly disturbed and then I walked over to Hikari. “Keep your distance from that one.”

“I like how you're barely noticing he’s a sociopath.”

“Oh I knew. I just didn’t realize how bad it was. We should run when they fall asleep.”  I whispered

“You know we can hear you right? I’m not a sociopath though I’m just not afraid to get my hands dirty. And neither of you are going anywhere.”

“Who made you the boss?”

“I did. You both need us if you're gonna survive anyway.”

“Why should we trust you?”

“Because now we're being hunted by the same people.” He then looked at Akio. “Also for some reason he’s willing to protect your sister which got us here in the first place so you're stuck with us since wherever he goes I go.”

I nodded my head in defeat.  “Fine I guess we have no choice then.”

[firstagent]

Review: Digimon Adventure: (2020) Episode 40: Strike! The Killer Shot

In this episode, the one bright side to denying Sora any character development is she can continue to be cool soccer girl in perpetuity.

Back when Sora was first introduced, her inclination for action and instant rapport with Piyomon were appreciated, but came with reservations about the direction her character arc would take. Fast forward thirty-six episodes… and nothing has changed. This is a spiritual successor to that episode, establishing her good communication with Taichi, willingness to fight for causes she believes in, and a lot of fun moments where she gets to kick some ass. Thing is, we’ve seen all of those already. What we haven’t seen yet is a good indicator of what they’re doing with this character. Like the earlier episodes focusing on Mimi, Yamato, and Joe, the lack of any development in otherwise enjoyable and much-needed spotlights is frustrating and feels like a wasted opportunity. But like episode four, we’re so enamored with this iteration of Sora that we’re not sure how much we care.

Both the original series and the reboot introduced Sora the same way: Taichi’s soccer friend operating on a similar wavelength as him, willing to go all out to protect everyone she cares about. In the original series, of course, her less girly attributes were a facade built up due to some serious mother issues and her actual nature embraced her own maternal side, something foreshadowed from the very beginning. This Sora intimates none of that. Her fierce attitude stems from a will to protect the weak, a round of soccer invigorates her so much her passion for it must be genuine, and the only sign of mommy issues is complaining about a lecture after she disappeared during an evacuation order. Otherwise her relationship with Piyomon and her openness fighting for what she loves suggests no such baggage.

This creates a dilemma. Original Sora’s development from petulant wannabe tomboy to loving mom friend experimenting to find herself is a striking and well crafted character arc, even through recent entries tri. and Kizuna (or at least its Memorial short). But looking at the end product, an embrace of femininity when her earliest perceptions were an antithesis of it can come off as disappointing and regressive. After the first arcs of Adventure, it’s shocking she surrenders the “coolest girl” crown to Mimi so decisively. It’ll be hard to topple reboot Mimi in that regard, but Sora’s antics here make it competitive, at the expense of anything interesting about her character. It lacks any nuance, it doesn’t develop, it’s heavily exaggerated… and it’s a hell of a lot more entertaining that what the original Sora becomes.

As much fun as she is to watch, the failure to capitalize on the opportunity to do something with her can’t be given a pass. Her original development reinforces that. Not because we should expect or demand she progress in that direction, but that we know how easy it is to progress her in any direction. Her unsatisfying landing point even offers an added urge to see her take a journey that doesn’t sacrifice her fire. But to take that, she needs flaws to overcome, and the fact that she hasn’t shown any (at least none presented as flaws), can’t be ignored because we like watching her kick a soccer ball.

Really, this would have been fantastic as an earlier episode, especially when it was Taichi and Sora running the show more or less on their own. It’s the kind of story that defines a relationship rather than embellishes and progresses one, which is the point we should be at. We love seeing Taichi and Sora’s rapport, but we’ve loved it from the beginning. While the added attention to it is appreciated, it doesn’t add anything new and looks out of place when the entire team is together and excuses have to be created to leave the other six on the ground.

At least the other six find ways to provide amusement. The falling fridge subplot is as pointless as the main plot, but at least it draws Yamato into his harmless confrontational mode that never disappoints. And as much as they waste the chance to develop Sora, Pomumon gets as more than a single-episode character is usually afforded, overcoming a sense of helplessness and poor flying skills to make a real difference. So it’s clear that the show does know how to develop characters. We’re just left waiting for them to develop the characters we want.

My Grade: B-

Loose Data:

Wait, so Sora is not only playing, but she’s also the official? I’ve heard of calling your own fouls, but that seems questionable.

He’s probably had it with him, but this is the first time Joe’s bugout bag was mentioned directly. And Sora raided it to get a whistle.

All the speculation about the floating island and not one of them wondered if that might be a fragment of Cloud Continent still hanging up there.

Pomumon is inspired by fruit, so being able to be converted into one makes as much sense as anything in the Digital World, but it’s vague how that same process also works to convert Taichi and MetalGreymon.

This episode is masterful at cute background stuff, particularly Takeru and Hikari playing volleyball with the Digimon while Yamato and Mimi have their silly fruit juice argument.

Bold of them to disrupt an evil fruit conversion operation, then taking a bunch of fruit home with them under the assumption that it’s all fair trade and not made of other Digimon.

See reviews of every Digimon episode at Digimon: System Restore! Support the site by joining our Patreon!

[lovelysparklypeanut]

Headcannons

Young Tsubasa and Misaki

When Tsubasa and Misaki first met when they were 3 years old, they didn’t get along at all and always butted heads with each other

Tsubasa found it difficult to adjust his new environment and not being able to see his family and very much missing his little sister, Hikari. That’s why threw a lot of tantrums.

They eventually got over their differences when Misaki smacked his head and nearly made him cry, scolding him for his attitude towards the kids in the class because of his tantrums.

Tsubasa cried first and Misaki got triggered and they both ended up crying together - Misaki hugged Tsubasa warmly…

Tsubasa was always rebellious (kinda like Natsume but less cold, just really naughty) and Misaki felt like it was her duty to watch over him so that he didn’t do anything that might end up injuring himself heavily and so they developed a really close friendship with each other

As they got older (around 10 years old), a lot of guys found Misaki really cute and attractive and the same for Tsubasa (he had a couple of fanclubs).

Misaki didn’t really pay attention cause she just wasn’t interested at all but the attention she got really bothered Tsubasa (especially one of the boys who pursued her fervently) but he didn’t understand what he was feeling and ended up lashing at misaki when one of their classmates confessed to her (he accidentally eavesdropped on the conversation)

Misaki was really hurt because of what he said and tsubasa sulked a lot - Kaname sassed the hello out of tsubasa for hurting misaki even though she did nothing wrong. Kaname gave his words of wisdom of being honest and communicating his feelings better otherwise misaki wouldn’t understand.

Tsubasa did, Misaki cleared the misunderstanding and said she’s not interested in anyone and that she finds boys annoying with a smile on her face - basically friend-zoned everyone and the misaki fanclub disbanded (but there are definitely closet fans out there)

Tsubasa felt a tiny pang in his heart but was determined not to give up - (Like the Patient Childhood Love Interest trope)

Everyone thinks they’re gonna get together but misaki always denied it, tsubasa just has a look on his face neither denying it or admitting it but that there could be a possibility in the future (see Picture 4, 5 and 6: When ya girl friendzones you.. oof)

At some point, these happened throughout their time at the academy:

A sick misaki

Misaki fell ill and had a fever - tsubasa took care of her and skipped classes to stay next to her, he went to Central town to get her a ‘get well soon’ kit. 

when she fell asleep cause meds got her drowsy, he stroked her hair and kissed her forehead gently. Megane took a photo (using a single-use camera, capturing every moment)… to this day, megane still has it and has made a promise to himself to only show during their wedding day…

How Tsubasa got his mark of punishment

Rui who started becoming interested in tsubasa heard of his affections for misaki (who never noticed or blatantly ignored it, treating it as a joke). Rui manipulated the people who didn’t like Tsubasa and were planning to harass misaki instead. 

Misaki decided not to say anything to tsubasa cause he’d end up blaming himself. But it steadily got worse to the point that she had some cuts and bruises on her skin when she entered the Special Ability Classroom one day.

Tsubasa, Megane and Kaname were concerned but she just said that it was just annoying flies and she beat them all up (which she did, singlehandedly) feeling proud of herself.

Tsubasa immediately stood up and walked briskly towards her and asked her what happened in a demanding voice. When misaki refused to answer for fear of what would to him if she spoke up, he grabbed her arm and took her outside of the room, trapped her between a wall and lightly punched the wall above her head.

“Misaki, I’m not kidding here. Tell me who hurt you.” He asked with a serious voice and eyes full of anger. Misaki held her tongue and looked away. Tsubasa clicked his tongue in annoyance and hugged misaki tightly.

Tsubasa managed to deal with Misaki’s harassers but got caught off guard by Rui and got hit by smoke alice, receiving the star mark under his left eye.

Misaki felt bad that happened, but he reassured her that it’s fine as long as it meant that there was no one harassing her. He also added that it looked pretty cool on him too to which she lightly punched his arm, “moron…” she whispered under her breath with a light blush on her face.

Last Dance and Christmas Ball

Misaki casually announced that she was going to dance with Tsubasa when she was asked b her classmates chattering on about the legend of the last dance. 

Tsubasa spat out his drink all over Megane’s face with a heavy blush on his face and frantically wiping megane. Thoughts went though his head, thinking that maybe misaki is reciprocating his feelings.

“Ah no, I don’t dance with people who have romantic intentions!” (Please refer to pic 6 for tsubasa’s face)

Everyone gave a pat or expressed their pity to tsubasa for being friendzoned. Again.

The first time Misaki dressed up as an angel, tsubasa nearly ended up having a heart attack. He was so nervous he couldn’t look at her straight in the eyes most of the time.

Misaki noticed this, grabbed his hand and lead him to the buffet area. Both eating to their hearts content and ended up hiding by the bushes with two trays full of food. The announcement came for the last dance and went to return the tray, washed their hands and danced the last dance next to the bonfire.

Tsubasa rested one of his hands on her slender waist while the other holding her hand gently as they swayed against the music, occasionally twirling her and pressing her up against his chest.

“Misaki… I wanted to tell you something… I… actually- really…”

Tsubasa ended up leading the both of them towards another couple, bumping into them and making misaki lose her footing.

At the end of the night, tsubasa’s ears were ringing as misaki yelled in embarrassment falling face first in front of everyone. Tsubasa promised to practice more so that she will never fall again. The implication made misaki blush slightly but huffed and said ‘whatever!’

Similar situation with Christmas Ball - tsubasa learned that misaki won’t see romantic events as romantic with him. But it makes him giddy and lucky that misaki chose him. He often gets death glares from other guys.

Love headcannons and I feel like there’s none for tsubasa and misaki - I find their interactions so cute and how whipped tsubasa is for misaki. You can tell how much he loves her

Anyway, might make another or might not - If I do, it may get a little saucy, y’know! hope you enjoyed reading!!

[shihalyfie]

Daisuke and Tagiru

Ever since Tagiru’s concept was announced, people have been comparing him to Daisuke, and, honestly, it’s hard not to -- in fact, considering that Xros Wars did certainly have some degree of trying to invoke stuff from older series, it’s very likely this is intentional! You have someone introduced as a junior to a prior protagonist, who wears goggles like him (and eventually inherits the senior’s pair), wears blue, has a blue dragon-like partner, is more hot-headed than said senior...

...and that is about where the similarities stop!

Still, I think such prominent base profile details practically beg one to make a comparison, so let’s dig in!

(Translations linked below are PositronCannon’s for 02, The Wild Bunch for Hunters, and L Subs for a Kizuna screenshot, unless otherwise stated.)

The junior-senior relationship

Both Daisuke and Tagiru look up to their seniors, and that’s probably the most well-known part about both of them, but I think the first major difference between the two is how they approach that admiration towards said seniors.

While Daisuke’s way of approaching Taichi can generally be observed through his tone and actions overall, the most clear representation is in 02 episode 8, where you get to see their relationship as soccer team junior and senior. The most consistent thing about this is that Daisuke is completely and utterly deferential to Taichi.

What does this mean? It means that, even when Daisuke is jokingly bragging about his skills, it only takes one criticism from Taichi to entirely shut him down. The degree to which Daisuke respects Taichi’s opinion and holds him in regard is in such high esteem that he completely defers to his judgment. He really, really thinks Taichi is that much cooler of an experienced person whose judgment takes priority over his own. Even in episode 39, when he makes his first major disagreement against Taichi -- that he wants to go help Ken in Tamachi instead of accompanying the others -- the way he phrases it is firm, but politely and respectfully, to the point it almost comes off like he’s asking for permission to go.

Tagiru, on the other hand...

...well, his first appearance in the series involves disregarding Taiki’s advice. And when it comes to his approach to Taiki...

...his goal is to outdo Taiki. He understands that Taiki is amazing, but he’s fixated on beating and surpassing him, seeing Taiki’s amazingness as more of a goal to reach.

In contrast, Daisuke’s approach to Taichi is completely on the other extreme.  While no part of 02-related canonical material ever explicitly covers whether Daisuke thinks he’d ever be able to be as good as Taichi, the implication is that Daisuke thinks Taichi is so amazing that the idea of surpassing him doesn’t even occur to him, or that he may not even think it’s possible at all. See Spring 2003:

All right! I’m finally a regular! A center-forward. Haah, I’m getting all pumped up! I’ll show ’em all my power! But… Taichi-san was already a regular in his fifth year. I heard he was big. Ahh, he was awesome!!

The one time he’s known to explicitly compare Taichi to himself...he just gushes about how Taichi was a regular earlier than he was. And then gushes about Taichi in general. So in other words, he treats the fact that he’s not as “good” as Taichi as...just a fact of life, because Taichi being that amazing is a fact of life to him.

Even all the way in 2010, Daisuke’s default reaction to Taichi is to gush about how amazing he is. He doesn’t even think of himself in the equation.

The goggles

Both of them are also known for having wearing goggles specifically because their seniors do, but the circumstances behind them are somewhat different.

Tagiru’s reasons for imitating Taiki are explicitly laid out in Hunters episode 1:

Tagiru basically sees Taiki as a “role model” -- he thinks Taiki is the model of the “superstar” level he wants to attain, and, eventually, surpass.

On the other hand, Daisuke’s circumstances and motive behind wearing the goggles were only implied in the series itself, but fully fleshed out in Spring 2003. In what’s implied to be a metaphorical conversation with his younger self, it’s said that the reason Daisuke started wearing goggles was because of “a person wearing goggles and riding something that looked like a huge dinosaur" -- Yagami Taichi, whom it seems Daisuke did not properly recognize as Taichi at the time -- during the 1999 Odaiba fog incident, when Vamdemon kidnapped everyone. Wanting “the strength to protect everyone”, Daisuke went home and picked up a pair of goggles, and has this to say about them:

...when I wear them, I guess it’s like, my feelings become stronger... ...Because I have these goggles. Even I didn’t know a lot from the start — well, I probably still don’t even now — but when I wear these, I kinda feel motivated… to do anything!

In other words, it’s likely Daisuke didn’t even realize “Taichi-senpai” was the person he was modeling himself after at the beginning -- it’s a bit unclear due to the circumstances of Spring 2003 being somewhat metaphorical, but either way it seems it had more to do with Taichi as “the hero who protected everyone” rather than simply his amazing soccer senior. Supporting this is Daisuke’s cameo appearance in the Adventure novels, which also has him express frustration at being powerless to protect his family.

(But of course, at whatever point Daisuke realized they were the same person, Taichi’s amazing soccer skills and leadership abilities must have certainly helped how much Daisuke adores him.)

Their general demeanor

Both Daisuke and Tagiru, on the surface, seem to track with the sort of “brash shounen hero” stereotype, but even their way of going about things differs greatly!

Despite Daisuke having a very “abrasive” surface demeanor -- he tends to get easily irritated at other people, and can sometimes come off as being pretty aggressive -- the truth is that he actually defers to others quite easily. This is especially in the case of the seniors or Hikari, but it extends to pretty much anyone -- the moment someone else puts their foot down, criticizes him, or takes a sufficiently large stand, he has a very strong tendency to back down. The fact that he’s so wishy-washy at the beginning of the series is a huge part of his character development, especially since the end of the Kaiser arc and the second half of the series are when he starts to make a serious stand about major things he cares about -- such as stopping more casualties at Chimeramon’s hands, or reaching out to Ken -- but he does still have some degree of deference to his friends’ opinions, and of course especially his seniors. At the very least, even if he gets argumentative, he’ll actually debate it out with them and try to make his case. In other words, Daisuke spends the course of 02 learning to be assertive, but he’s actually not as aggressive as his initial demeanor suggests.

In fact, Daisuke has often been described as being a lot like a puppy, which is something I find to be rather incredibly accurate -- he gets easily riled up or defensive, but in actuality is eager to please others and is otherwise not very threatening (especially if you give him attention).

For what it’s worth, as much as Daisuke seems to often have a lot of confidence (he does the usual shounen hero schtick of gloating about taking enemies down and all that), it’s very rare he actually talks about himself or shows any moments of pride or self-esteem. Even his joking that he might make the national soccer team was that -- a joke -- that he snapped out of the moment Taichi criticized him, and the same episode has him not even entertaining the illusion that they might win against the Tamachi team -- he’s just happy to play them at all. By the time of Kizuna, he’s rather grounded and realistic about his position and abilities in terms of how to approach his career aspirations -- overall he doesn’t actually seem to have a lot of self-awareness, positive or negative, and can be quite humble when it really comes down to it.

Considering that, it makes sense that Daisuke was able to settle for such a simple career aspiration (ramen making) -- he’s not that ambitious, and he doesn’t shoot very high. He’s happy with what he’s able to do, and while he of course wants to succeed in that and do his best, he's still satisfied with not aiming all that high.

Moreover, while he of course tends to be the one who wants to charge forward, it’s quite easy to hold him back if the others advise him that it’s a bad idea (see: 02 episode 7). During times he does put his foot down because he really, really believes it’s the only thing that can be done, Daisuke is actually forgiving of those who don’t want to charge in forward as easily as he does; in both episodes where he chooses to push on forward when the others are hesitant (02 episodes 20 and 48), he holds no ill will towards the others staying behind and simply informs everyone that he’ll go in alone if he has to. 

Tagiru, on the other hand, is actually as aggressive as his demeanor suggests -- he’s not nearly as deferential as Daisuke and doesn’t “deflate” as easily, is much more willing to argue with others (or disregard them and go off on his own if he sufficiently dislikes what they’re doing), and is rather generally brimming with pride and a lot of self-assuredness in being great and awesome. Unlike Daisuke, he is absolutely ambitious and wants to shoot for the highest thing he can possibly be -- hence why he wants to not just be like Taiki but surpass him, because he has the drive to push himself as far as possible.

Tagiru also has a tendency to try and “claim credit” for things (the basketball match in episode 1, the above scene in episode 14); most likely Daisuke wouldn’t even bother (except, perhaps, in the occasional moment of weakness when he’s trying to impress Hikari-chan). Moreover, Tagiru doesn’t need any permission to charge in whatsoever; he’ll do it if he wants to, regardless of what others tell him.

This also contributes to Tagiru being much less of a team player than Daisuke is -- making him excel much better in Hunters’ battle royale format in which his aggressiveness helped him compete in a game where everyone was playing for themselves. It’s likely he would have done very poorly in Daisuke’s situation, where team coordination and bonding was important to their adventure, and, conversely, Daisuke, who’s reliant on others and constantly deferential, would probably have performed very poorly in the Hunt.

V-mon and Gumdramon

Personality-wise, I think it’s generally understood that Daisuke and Tagiru’s actual partners have rather little similarity, and everything is mainly aesthetic (being blue dragon-like Digimon) -- V-mon is rather easygoing and friendly, whereas Gumdramon’s competitiveness and mischievousness matches Tagiru’s own. In general, though, I would also point out that this is reflective of the different ways Adventure/02 and Xros Wars approached Digimon partnership as well. In Adventure/02, Digimon partners were effectively part of the inner self, so V-mon was reflective of Daisuke actually being of a quite friendly and agreeable nature when it really came down to it and you got past his abrasive surface demeanor. As a result, Daisuke and V-mon were like-minded almost unconsciously, to the point of being in sync without even trying. (Not that they’d never got into an argument ever -- see The Door to Summer -- but their relationship was definitely more of a “natural clicking” sense.)

In contrast, Xros Wars very much treats Digimon and humans as individual entities in every respect, with “partners” really just being the Digimon each General/Hunter bonded the most with and has as their core battle partner, so there is much more of a significant level of choice between partners choosing each other in terms of whether their personalities click. (The fact that Taiki and Shoutmon were very disparate in temperament and motive was a big part of the first series of Xros Wars.) Nevertheless, Gumdramon and Tagiru are extremely like-minded -- both a little mischievous, and both very ambitious. Of course, both of them being rather aggressive did lead to some friction in episodes such as 7 and 17, but this led to them ultimately bonding more deeply by working through it.

Unlike V-mon, who had no real affiliation with Agumon, and unlike Tagiru, who can hardly be said to be all that deferential to Taiki, Gumdramon does seem to be significantly deferential to Shoutmon...although mainly out of intimidation more than anything.

Round-up

So, a tl;dr in closing:

Daisuke's relationship to Taichi is almost entirely deferential, and Daisuke holds him in such high esteem that he concentrates more on Taichi being amazing more than he ever factors himself into the equation; Tagiru sees Taiki more as a role model and someone to aspire to and eventually surpass

Daisuke’s reason for taking after Taichi with the goggles is out of a desire to protect others the way Taichi did; Tagiru wears the goggles explicitly to imitate Taiki as part of his goal to be a “superstar” and eventually surpass him

Daisuke is generally deferential to others, is somewhat lacking in ambition, and only really puts a firm foot down when it’s something he cares about; Tagiru is actually capable of being aggressive, does not necessarily defer to others, and has significant ambitions of pushing himself as high as possible

Daisuke’s relationship with V-mon is that of V-mon being reflective of Daisuke’s inner friendliness, and the two simply get along naturally in a friendly manner; Tagiru and Gumdramon had to more consciously form their partnership on being more like-minded, which meant that they had to overcome some obstacles in their relationship due to both of them being more on the aggressive side.