#or are we getting daisuke and ken in a game??? or are they just sneaking into the games section for funsies?!?!?!?!

[digitalgate02]

EXCUSE ME, WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING AT THE GAMES SECTION!?

[seventeenlovesthree]

Koroushi and Hikari

Assuming you meant Koushirou, I will write about Koukari here, anon. <3

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:

It does - one might have to take a very close look to notice it though. The screenshot taken from the episode above might be the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning these two, as they’re getting paired up during the World Tour arc in 02 to travel to Hong Kong together. However, ever since Hikari was introduced in 01, very late in the series, there have been several instances of Koushirou being curious about her (and her strange connection to the Digital World), him interacting with and encouraging her - and he’s actually the only person Taichi tells about their childhood, thus he’s aware of her having been prone to sickness and getting hospitalized due to it. In fact, one of Koushirou’s main roles in the Dark Master’s arc is being the (emotional) support system of the Yagami siblings, which provides a nice set-up for the two of them - at least in theory. Because unfortunately, they don’t interact as much with each other just on their own. 

With Hikari being Taichi’s sister and Koushirou being his best friend, it should be a given to assume that there’s at least some kind of familiarity between them, but for the most part, the viewer has to guess how deep their bond actually goes. Hikari obviously tags along with Taichi’s group in 01 and then again with the new Chosen Children in 02, as the entire group treats Koushirou as their mentor there, but they’re not really seen talking to each other a lot. That’s even more obvious in Tri, where they’re maybe standing next to each other once or twice (culminating in the stageplay, where they aren’t interacting at all). Kizuna at least provides a shot of him panicking once he notices that she’s in danger, so he immediately contacts her brother - which basically summarizes his overall interaction theme towards her: She’s in danger/sick/some kind of otherworldly state, so he does whatever it takes to (help) saving her. The reboot, despite putting them together in Team Light, doesn’t show much interpersonal interaction between them either and the only notable thing that happens in regards to them in the novels is Koushirou sneaking out of his room in the middle of the night to confirm that the beeping dot on his digivice is indeed Hikari Yagami... 

The most interesting framing may take place in the PSP game, because it actually lets them bond; They’re talking about physical things they’re being attached to (her whistle vs. his laptop), about flowers and “the thought that counts” - and Hikari actually has a lot of praise for Koushirou as well, boosting his self-confidence in the same way he did for her in the anime, so he ends up offering to teach her how to use computers and that’s probably why she knew how to send mail in OWG... Then again, there’s also the infamous (non-canon) love letter drama - which creates a humourous non-existing “love triangle” between Koushirou, Mimi and Hikari in which it is at least implied he maaaaay have written the letter for Hikari... 

So tl;dr, there is not nothing and there IS a lot of soft potential.

Whether I think why and how they’d work:

Based on the fact that I just spent quite a while talking about the sheer potential of these two - I definitely believe that they could work. First of all, as mentioned above, they should be close(r) to each other due to their closeness to Taichi. Second of all, we see Koushirou’s protective and kind nature shining through towards her in 01. Paired up with their curious and sweet interactions in the PSP game, I am convinced that the “hyperempathic girl with the magical connection to the Digital World” and the “knowledgable support guy with a technological interest in the Digital World” could be a great (contrasting) combination to end up as a romantic couple. They’re both “weird” (and in their own worlds) in their own ways, both incredibly prone to self-sacrifice and can get pretty mad at others for doing the same (Taichi in particular, but I’m sure they’d be the same towards each other too), so they already have a lot in common. Curiosity and the will to create a wonderful, symbiotic future for the Digital World and the real world is also something that could connect them.

Thanks to the “I’m gonna teach you how to use a computer” bit, I am also sure that they’re very communicative, talking and texting on the phone/computer a lot and there’s a reason why people often headcanon Hikari providing pictures of the Digital World to Koushirou for his studies. I mean, why else would he have opened a shady looking link coming from her immediately (in Kizuna) if he wasn’t at least somewhat used to her sending him things? It’s incredibly endearing to imagine them being kind and supportive towards each other’s goals - ESPECIALLY since Hikari is aiming to become a kindergarden teacher and who would be more suitable to help her than the person who likes to teach, rant and ramble anyway??? 

They’re both not very offensive/forward when it comes to (facing) their feelings though, in fact, they tend to keep those to themselves rather consistently. Thus, it may be a veeeery persistent slow burn - and Takeru would prooobably have the time of his life dropping hints towards both of them. Koushirou might not get it and Hikari would pout at him and get defensive - but they’d get there. One day, for sure.

I also love the idea of them going on double dates with Taichi and Sora - Team Light should generally be much closer than what canon was showing and I cannot imagine Taichi not giving Koushirou his blessings (despite everything that happened in the infamous love letter drama mentioned above).

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

In case it hasn’t been obvious, I love the idea of these two falling for each other and helping the other to realize that their self-sacrificing tendencies have been quite unhealthy in the past - growing and healing while building a future for the Digital and real world together. However, I also like the idea of them just being platonic study buddies, as outlined above, forever giggling together over Taichi bluescreening his PC for the millionth time.

[fizzingwizard]

I fell asleep as soon as I got home and didn’t get to write about Kizuna. xP So belatedly, here are my thoughts.

Warning: Spoilers for Digimon: Kizuna Last Evolution

So to start with, some context: I had a bad day at work. Not gonna go into details, but it was the sort of thing to put you out of the mood for seeing a movie, even one that’s a childhood treasure. I almost didn’t go.

In addition, because of what happened at work, I had to stay an extra hour, which meant I missed the first 25 minutes of the movie. I’m not sure how much story I actually missed - probably there was 10 min or so of trailers - but it’s possible I missed some framing. Usually the cute, fun, get-to-know-the-character moments happen in those beginning scenes, and I didn’t get to see those. When I walked in, Taichi and Yamato were having a meal together and talking about how their lives were all changing, but the Digimon stayed the same. So that’s where I’m starting from.

One more thing - I haven’t read the Kizuna novel. It sounds like if you did, you already know everything that happens. (Possibly reading the novel is more interesting than seeing the movie.) Sorry if I’m surprised by things y’all already knew!

For those who don’t like reading my long-winded posts:

Kizuna is what I would have expected from a Digimon sequel before Tri came out. That is, it’s predictable.

The art is quite good, except when it’s not.

There’s not enough of characters who aren’t named Taichi or Yamato.

Yamato is extremely COOL.

Koushirou has some good moments.

Tri is actually still canon, which I didn’t know - Meiko appears briefly in Kizuna.

It was fun to see the 02 kids, but they didn’t do anything special, although they did more than some Adventure kids.

It ends with the partner Digimon disappearing ‘forever,’ but also with Taichi putting in I think his thesis in politics specifically between the human world and the digital world. So everything seems geared to reach the 02 ending, where we know they were with their partners. So I guess at least we can headcanon that they find a way to reunite :/

OK so.

The art is really nice in this movie. Very smooth, very anime movie-like. I preferred Uki Atsuya’s designs and it did feel a little weird to go back to a more wide-eyed, innocent style now that the kids are older, but it was so lovely that I didn’t mind. Tri really lacked smoothness in the animation, so this was refreshing.

There are some times where the animations falters or some error happens - at least twice I noticed characters’ mouths moving without them saying anything, and there’s a scene where Taichi gets blown back by Eosmon’s attack and when he sits up his, um, backside is quite pronounced, like on-the-cover-of-Playboy-pronounced x’D Who knew Taichi was so thicc?

I liked in the beginning when they fly through cyberspace to take on Eosmon and it’s just like the cyberspace in Our War Game and Diablomon Strikes Back. The beginning was a bit promising. Omegamon is called on to help but his evolution breaks down, and fortunately Menoa knows all about why. There were some strong emotional moments when Taichi seizes the chance to help with a Digimon situation, and even stronger when they find out their partner Digimon are going to leave when they become adults and commit to a path (since apparently becoming an adult means you no longer have the endless possibilities of childhood). Digivolving speeds up the process.

Taichi and Yamato react very strongly. Other Chosen don’t seem in danger yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Takeru breathes a sigh of relief when he checks his digivice and realizes there’s no countdown, but Yamato’s and Taichi’s digivices are glowing with a countdown clock. Yamato screams and runs off to do anything he can to stop this. Taichi tries to deny it, but then Gennai appears in his apartment (which I think he cannot afford because we never see him turn on the lights :P) and tells him it’s all true and there’s nothing we can do about it. Then it’s bye-bye Gennai.

Oh, but before Gennai shows up Taichi is showing Agumon his apartment, and Agumon immediately finds his porn stash. I mean, that’s what you get for having magazines and DVDs instead of just using the Internet, Taichi, you moron. Teehee.

So Menoa and Imura convince the Adventure kids to “help” them, saying they’re trying to save the Chosen’s trapped consciousness. Yamato immediately figured out something’s not right, but pegs Imura as the likely suspect. However, he’s suspicious of Menoa too. Remember in Tri, when he sneaks after Nishijima and Himkawa, and gets them to talk? This is that only More. He lurks in stairwells, he goes without sleep, he researches online databases, he gets the 02 kids looking up details on Menoa, he follows Imura to some secret hideout covered in the typical secret agent decor of Papers Pinned To Walls With Illegible Writing.

As fun as it is to watch Yamato be all Men In Black, shouldn’t it... be... Ken? X’D Or are there many secret agents in space?

When Imura confronts Yamato, Hikari and Takeru have been taken prisoner. Somehow. They’re tied to chairs and Koushirou gets sent a message from Hikari’s phone saying in many different languages “Which one will be next?” So Taichi and Yamato hurry to the scene. At this point, Mimi has already had her consciousness abducted, and we now find out Jou’s KO’d too off screen.

Yamato sees Imura sitting on the stairs holding a gun. He lifts the gun and says “Takeru is already -” and I as like OMG THEY KILLED TAKERU!? but the gun is just... for show x’D Takeru has had his consciousness trapped. So has Hikari. Yamato makes good with Imura and they realize they need to go after Menoa, that she’s the one behind it all. Uh, too late though, because Menoa’s already moved against Koushirou, I think because she wants his information on Chosen Children around the world, and traps his consciousness as well. But not before Koushirou is able to track the location of Eosmon and leave the coordinates in a message for Taichi.

I don’t like Menoa. First of all, she’s a foreigner who likes to insert random English words where they’re not needed, and her accent is one of the worst I’ve ever heard x’D If you’re gonna cast someone who can’t speak a language as a speaker of that language, how about not have them actually speak it? But also, she’s not interesting. She had a Digimon partner - surprise! - who was a butterfly - surprise! - and who disappeared when she entered the path to adulthood - surprise! - and who she’s been grieving for ever since, so her big master plan is to somehow trap the consciousness of all Chosen Children around the world in another dimension where they can live inside their memories and never have to grow up. (The Digimon too.) She refers to it as her “Neverland.” None of this interests me. Yawn.

She is able to trap all the Adventure kids except Taichi, Yamato, and Sora. But don’t get excited about Sora not being trapped - Sora has decided not to fight anymore, and she sticks her decision the whole movie long. Sora is almost completely absent.

So now almost all the Adventure Chosen have been abducted and most of them didn’t even get to do anything, unless they were all being super awesome in those first ten-fifteen minutes that I missed. The 02 kids do not get trapped and when Eosmon copies start raining down around the world, they run around trying to stop them. Daisuke is adorable. Pretty much just what you’d expect. Iori is Iori. Miyako is her exuberant self. Ken is forgettable X’D I’m so sorry, Ken. Someone give him a hairstyle. My problem with the 02 kids is because, as much as it sucked that they never turned up after their inauspicious start in Tri, having them around isn’t really improving anything. Nostalgia, sure. But they’re too busy doing research and fighting to have those nice character moments we’d like to see. They do the shonen anime thing of Stating the Obvious and Promising to Unite As One and that’s it for their dialogue. They’re polite and take turns letting each other say the predictable line. At least we know Stingmon still calls his partner “Ken-chan.” <3

Taichi and Yamato use Koushirou’s coordinates to go after Menoa in her world. But not before Yamato reacts with irrational strength when Taichi suggests they save their trapped friends. Because saving them means digivolving, which means the process of losing their partners forever will speed up. “Taichi!! Are you okay with that??” Taichi’s like, “Um... no, but people are trapped and need to be rescued.” And Yamato’s like “Oh right.”

So they go and are attacked by Adventure-age versions of their trapped friends and also random Digimon. There’s quite a lot of blood?? Someone, I think Yamato, has a freaking Drimogemeon attacking him. He doesn’t get gored though lmao. Eosmon has a billion copies and they’re around the world going for Chosen Children. They bring out Omegamon and he gets his leg chopped off, whee. But both Digimon are physically intact when the evolution is broken.

Menoa is completely mentally unstable and fuses with Eosmon to become their “goddess.” Taichi sticks his hand out zombie-like under the pile of Digimon attacking him and yells at his Adventure-age friends “We must move on!” (ie, grow up). He is able to crawl to Hikari and blow her whistle with a huge breath.

This snaps everyone out of it. At this point I think “Okay! Big battle all together!” But nope. It’s still just Taichi and Yamato, who get new evolutions that look like Thundercats, and go after Menoa. While some song plays making it difficult to hear dialogue, they defeat Eosmon which makes the copies around the world disappear, and then they find Menoa trapped within her own memories of her partner, Morphomon, and rescue her as well. Menoa’s last scene is being handcuffed by Imura.

Then Taichi and Yamato go out separately with their partners and have a last conversation with them as the countdown clock is about to expire. Yamato plays his harmonica. Agumon tries to ply Taichi for food. We get Agumon’s vantage point looking up at Taichi and it’s like “wow you’re huge now.” Agumon and Gabumon both ask their partners what they’ll do tomorrow. Just as Taichi and Yamato think of an answer, they look and their partners are gone. Taichi and Yamato do some pretty impressive sobbing. Then we see them some time later hurrying on with their lives under symbolic cherry blossoms. The end!

The credits show scenes of the Chosen living their adult lives, the younger ones still with their partners, the older without. It ends with a peek at Taichi’s thesis, representing step one towards becoming a diplomat between the human and digital worlds. Like I said before, since we know they still have their partners in the 02 epilogue, it’s strange to me that they kept everything the same except that. So let’s headcanon that they’ll meet again o.O I guess

So if you read this far, you probably got the vibe that I wasn’t super impressed by Kizuna. But it’s not a bad movie. Tri pretty much spoiled me. I get that there are people who really don’t like Tri for various reasons, but to be honest, I think that even if you dislike it, you have to acknowledge what a gift it was. Six movies that gave every character something to do and mostly avoided the predictable stuff, not entirely, but much better than would be expected from an anime movie. Tri did so many interesting things. It’s got its flaws, a couple big ones, but I can never get past how it built everything up and what it resulted in.

But Tri’s number one strength comes from having six movies to tell the story. Kizuna has just one. If Tri had been condensed into a single movie - say we meet Meiko, the infection happens, she’s the origin, before the partners lose their memories Meiko asks the kids to kill Meicoomon, Daigo dies saving Taichi and then Taichi kills Meicoomon, the end - Idk if I would have liked that. It wouldn’t have gotten the build up it needed. I wouldn’t have learned to love Meiko. Stories need pacing, they need development, and more of each the more characters there are. Tri had the time to give us that.

I wasn’t expecting Kizuna to be like Tri - both the art style and all the info about it said otherwise - so I have to say that all in all, Kizuna is the movie I originally would have expected a Digimon sequel to be. It’s got That Plot that every fan read or wrote on fanfiction.net back in the day, where the kids lose their partners as a result of becoming an adult. I always hated that plotline because it was so predictable. If everyone can think of it, how can you call it creative?

But it is quite Japanese in a way, the appreciation for “the transience of things,” what they call 物の哀れ. Sora’s final ikebana display includes what I assume were cherry blossoms rising above a field of colorful flowers. Cherry blossoms represent this ephemerality in Japanese culture because of their short flowering time and how their appearance marks the beginning of spring. So in that way it’s all very striking and real. But I just personally don’t like it and never have. Also I think that for me, because I was so moved by Kokuhaku, there wasn’t much chance for this plot to have the same effect: Kokuhaku simply did it better.

I do think Kizuna is appreciable on its own and that if Tri weren’t a thing I’d have liked it better. I am not sure if I’m gonna go see it again. I might! I got a Koushirou clear file for going this week. (... The postcards we got for going to Tri were way better, though xP) So could at least go and collect more maybe.

But Kizuna has a big downside, which is that it’s just as obsessed with Taichi and Yamato as Tri was, but it’s even more felt due to the time constraints. At least with Tri, we got to see everyone do something at some point. In Kizuna, they don’t even try. Mimi, Jou, and Hikari are barely around and get their consciousness trapped early on. Takeru at least gets to join the initial fight with Eosmon, but I think that’s due to wanting to give a nod to Our War Game and maybe just because fans like Angemon. Then Takeru’s gone. Koushirou gets to be his brainiac self, I don’t really have a complaint about his treatment, except in the final battle where he’s just there. And Sora simply isn’t around period. Tri didn’t have the 02 kids, ok, that’s too bad... Kizuna has them but they’re boring and most of the Adventure cast doesn’t get to do much either. Is this really better, guys?

When you’ve got a cast this big, I don’t think you can do things the typical way. I’m an X-men fan, I should know. Lol.

That’s it for Kizuna! I’m still happy it exists, and have to admit that I might have had a slightly more positive take if I hadn’t been in such a bad mood from my day, so I hope that on a second viewing, whether I go to the theaters or wait to find it online, I will find more bits to appreciate.

[digitalgate02]

Epilogue Celebration Day TEN: After Epilogue

Oh boy how to talk about those...?? Ok ok I do have some concept ideas, but those would’ve been spoiler for @digimonadventuretimelines​ project ;w;

So I’m rambling a few non-plot-related ideas.

Daisuke keeps moving around the globe just like he used to do when he was an amateur chef. He takes his son with him most of the time, as for his wife I think we can keep her out of the post for now.

Taichi feels still troubled with job, but his son is now 11 years old and he feels bad for his dad, so he starts spending time with Hikaru who takes him for trips around the Digital World. Sometimes they video call Taichi to make sure Takao is safe. One day, Takao sneaks into the U.N. building with the help of his friends, just to surprise Taichi. Of course things goes a bit wrong and Hikari & Sora had to come pick Takao, Hikaru, Mirai and Yoshiya up before the group get caught by the security.

Atori, Reika and Mai spend time together, doing girly things. Mai assumes she finds boring girly things and then they start exploring art styles instead. sleepover party gets insane and Miyako has to tell them to please remember of the baby sleeping on the parents room with a very tired Ken.

Mitsuki liveblogs a digimon fight, makes Sora afraid of losing her nephew but Takeru assures her that Mitsuki is old enough to protect himself lol Takeru is one of the people watching and making Sora just “PLEASE Takeru for the sake of teacher Nishijima’s spirit, don’t enable him. Go send Angemon to help NOW!”

Old ramen night reunion with the 02 squad. They left Mai & Reika to take care of Toushin and the-very-reckless-kid Daiki. They didn’t set anything on fire because Reika was ultra serious on the job. The baby also is a troublemaker and all four had a bad time preventing that baby from getting hurt.

Old Taichi-Daisuke talk, this time them drinking and talking about life. They complain about Yamato and Ken not having free time for a drink but hey, Taichi got a break so let’s bring back the gay feelings Daisuke always had for Yagami Taichi.

The disappointment of the soccer trio (Taichi-Daisuke-Ken) when they learn their children aren’t into soccer so the three are petrified in the background while Takao, Daiki and Toushin talks about video-games. Taichi growls, “This new generation does not know how good is to play soccer...”

Koushiro praising how adorable AND genius is Mirai, when she improves her skills at building things and her being able to hack everything enough to make Miyako requests Koushiro to tell her to please don’t f--ck with her, Miyako’s, job.

The wild Motomiya-Ichijouji rivalry between Daisuke-Ken and Daiki-Toushin on several other categories, making Miyako and Mai just sigh “ugh those dumb men/boys”

Takeru telling the group’s children stories about the group’s adventures and Taichi plus Daisuke intervening with their own stories, all wrong and exaggerated. Yamato teases then by saying he did not remember nothing of those fights being beaten by Agumon and V-mon with just one punch. The digimon complains, Gabumon shrugs as response.

Want feels? The Twelve take time on the 8/1 celebrations to thank Oikawa and Nishijima for everything they had done for them all. That their sacrifices weren’t in vain and they hope to someday meet them again.

Sora teaches the kids how to bake a cake. Mike’s cake is very Mimi-ish, Daiki’s cake is a mess, the rest of the cakes are  either fine or terrible. Daisuke and Mimi also take part in the teaching as the judges. It’s a very fun scene.

Joe learns Jin is gay and that he has a huge crush on Mike. Joe hugs his son and supports him to confess his feelings for the boy of Jin’s life.

Boys day, all the boys of the Neo Chosen Children group gather to play video-games, and Toushin is a really showoff lol.

THE ICHIJOUJI-INOUE BABY’S FIRST WORDS!! And it wasn’t either Dad or Mom, it was “insect”!! Ken has a huge breakdown needing Miyako’s help to recover from it. Then, Miyako wonders where the baby heard that before...  Ah, Ken’s still a gamer hence why.

Yamato gives advice/opinions on Mai’s music since he is a former musician. He doesn’t like much of that music genre she loves to, but he’s happy that she’s so decided to become a professional someday. He likes to listen to her remixes on the car.

Mimi keeps supporting Mike and is glad when she hears that Jin had confessed his love for Mike. She jokes with Joe about their children making a cute couple, and Joe smiles, he agrees with Mimi.

Hikaru tries so so hard to make Mitsuki take the hints that he’s so much gay for Mitsuki, but the other doesn’t care about romance. HE CARES ABOUT OLD SCHOOL VIDEO-GAMES LOL.

Mitsuki: I want to make games. Mirai, Reika, Mai: I’m in Toushin: I want to play said games.