Digimon Beatbreak Theory: Tomoro is an ongoing experiment… and has been since he was a child (+future predictions)
This theory has been forming up inside my head for a while and with additional lore revealed in episode 23, it has strong grounds and connections to be believable.
As title states - Tomoro is unknowingly a test subject of Chairman Wong and has been since he was a child or perhaps even earlier. From the very start of the series we’ve learned Tomoro’s e-pulse is special, but not in the most positive way. It has been breaking Sapotamas ever since he was in kindergarten, one time even directly hurting his older brother Asuka when it caused a malfunction in his electric scooter. Still, Asuka kept emphasizing that his e-pulse is unique, that he wants to “hear his beat” whenever his emotions are bursting with creativity. Even his last words before he was Cold Hearted were: “Your pulse will shake the world.”
Now how does all of that connect to Chairman Wong?
Chairman Wong is the creator of Sapotamas and currently the president of World Union, a corporation that is apparently above the government since most of the city heavily relies on his devices to function. He oversees the job of the Ministry of Civil Protection that is taking care of the Digimon problem, the side effect of his creation and leads the Five Stars, the top five most powerful Cleaners.
And what we learned the most recently - the experiments that led to discovery of e-pulse and Digimon, was the cause of The Kano Island Vanishing Incident 20 years ago that killed over a million people and destroyed a lot of landscape. We were led to believe that the creation of Sapotamas was his way to rebuild civilization from the ruins caused by natural disaster - when it was just damage control after an incident he caused himself. And from the looks of it, he is planning to keep it hidden while focusing on another goal.
Digimon are glitches, a side effect of e-pulse going out of control and he created a perfect system of Cleaners that are taking care of this problem. Yet, there are more Cold Heart cases, something that is getting harder to ignore by the public. He is clearly working on something in the background as it is confirmed in episode 13 that World Union has “labs” where they keep Digimon for whatever reason and it is heavily hinted Haruomi was taken there since he was useless for trafficking or a fighting ring without a partner Digimon. But if he has a strong e-pulse, strong enough to conjure a rather powerful Digimon, he would still be a good subject for further experimentation.
Considering Chairman Wong had no issues experimenting on whoever or being concerned when his own creation caused what was essentially a nuclear explosion, what would stop him from going even further? It didn’t matter Digimon were attacking other researchers or people were suffering from experiments - he was just amazed at the discovery of a new energy source and how powerful it was.
And this is where it connects back to Tomoro. Chairman Wong had a partner, Dr. Tenma - researcher who is very likely Tomoro’s grandfather as the man is much older compared to Tomoro’s father who was shown in a brief flashback in episode 11. It wasn’t clear how much he was involved in this, but at least compared to the crazed expression on Chairman Wong, he looked terrified of what they'd done.
There were hints that Tomoro’s parents were arrested for something related to Digimon, perhaps they were researchers or trying to reveal the truth since Asuka knew about Digimon despite not having one or being a Cleaner. Of course, he might’ve known due to knowing Kyo for a long time, but it was still possible there was something more.
But the reveal of dr. Tenma changes this.
It is clear nothing will stop Chairman’s Wong from achieving what he wants and while Dr. Tenma might’ve been on board from the start, he saw his true colors during the incident. Afterwards, he might’ve tried to fix the mess, seeing that Sapotamas are great for helping people living a comfortable life, but the glitches still kept happening and so were the Digimon attacks. Dr. Tenma might’ve suggested using more “stable” people with Digimon partners to work on taking care of the problem and so Cleaners came to be. But Chairman Wong still wanted to work on something more that we still don’t know of and Dr. Tenma finally had enough and wanted to walk away from whatever he planned to experiment on next.
And what if the experiment involved his own grandson?
Tomoro’s epulse has been problematic way before his parents were arrested. We see his parents at the school meeting after his epulse broke all Sapotamas at kindergarten. Chairman Wong might’ve been seeking out people with a unique epulse and took an interest in Dr. Tenma’s grandson. But Dr. Tenma refused to hand over Tomoro for experimentation and perhaps even threatened to reveal the truth and shut down the whole operation.
So Chairman Wong took his son and daughter-in-law instead, as hostages.
That way he kept Dr. Tenma under the control while also starting the experiment on Tomoro from afar. If Dr. Tenma would try to leave, his family would likely be used as test subjects in that lab. So he chose the lesser of the two evils - Tomoro experiment is still going on while his son and daughter-in-law are safe. It was not clear what Tomoro's parents’ occupations were but it is likely they were researchers and being arrested was a cover story of being imprisoned within the labs. Dr. Tenma is forced to work on whatever Chairman Wong has in mind otherwise his family pays the price.
Now what kind of an experiment is Tomoro?
E-pulse heavily reacts to emotion and what would be more emotionally devastating than seeing your parents being arrested for no apparent reason, moving from a nice house to slums and watching your older brother drop out of school, quit his band and work just to support him? Not to mention he was already dealing with being regarded as an outcast due to his e-pulse that could directly hurt someone by accident. Surely that would evoke emotions intense enough to create a Digimon and give the Ministry of Civil Protection a good reason to take him away too.
But Tomoro didn’t break then just yet. He still had Asuka who was incredibly patient with him and taught him how to express emotions properly. Tomoro always wanted to be more creative, like in the flashback during the music lesson when he had to follow the rules. Instead of that, Tomoro played his own melody, again resulting in breaking all Sapotamas and keyboards in the classroom. So Asuka taught him how to play drums, an instrument that didn’t require the use of modern tech, encouraging him to use his own beat. Tomoro is visibly happier whenever he can use his drumsticks while listening to music, it was a way to control the intense emotions he kept on the inside.
It is also heavily implied Asuka was the reason Kyo left Five Stars. Cougarmon told him so himself: “Your e-pulse used to be full of rage.” A boy who only cared about getting stronger and fighting others could hardly become such a different person on his own. Asuka was always protective of his little brother and did everything to keep him safe - just like how Kyo is protecting Glowing Dawn. Kyo might’ve seen it as the true strength he lacked and that opened his eyes on just how cruel the methods of Five Stars truly were. Asuka kept Tomoro’s epulse calm and helped Kyo see a different perspective, and this might’ve led Kyo to tell Asuka about Digimon.
Their parents might’ve known why they were taken, but were not allowed or able to tell Asuka why, only asking him to keep Tomoro safe and his e-pulse in check. Now that Kyo told him about Digimon, it started to make sense and keeping him calm was to not let him conjure his Digimon. And if that were to happen, Kyo will make him into a Cleaner so he is legally protected from the Ministry of Civil Protection. Tomoro was at the time still alright, avoiding all modern tech and using his passion for music to control his emotions.
But then it all went downhill when he accidentally touched Hitomi’s Sapotama. For the first time in years his glitchy e-pulse got back in the system, bringing attention back to himself. He might’ve learned techniques of how to keep himself calm with the help of his brother, but Hitomi being struck with a Cold Heart was new. He was already feeling guilty for being a reason Asuka had to sacrifice so much for him and accompanied by frustrations of not knowing what was going on, causing the incident of an innocent bystander and just overall presence of intense emotions during teenage years, it finally broke him and Gekkomon was created.
Asuka was probably alarmed by the fact that Tomoro’s classmate was Cold Hearted and when Tomoro confirmed he had touched her Sapotama he knew he had to act. He told him to stay inside and very likely went to get Kyo as he was convinced Tomoro needs to know what is going on before those who took their parents learn that his e-pulse is active again. But in the midst of panic, he probably let his guard down and didn’t see Tomoro’s emotions going out of control.
Now we come to the part where Asuka’s e-pulse was taken by rogue Digimon, who was later revealed to be Kanada’s partner Digimon, one of the Five Stars that is actually in the same position Kyo used to be. Kanada seems to be working directly under Chairman Wong, hinting that Kyo might’ve had the same role (potentially also seeing just how bad this system was first-hand) and was likely sent to collect Tomoro now that his e-pulse charged Hitomi’s Sapotama, probably reporting it directly to Five Stars. Tomoro’s e-pulse might’ve grown less intense over the years but now showed promise again, so Kanada might’ve been ordered to just observe how his e-pulse powers up Gekkomon and then take him, as Tomoro would get tired from the fight and be easier to kidnap.
But Glowing Dawn was present there and Kyo could connect the dots fast, so Kanada just had his Digimon partner take Asuka’s e-pulse as another hostage while awaiting further orders from Chairman Wong. With Tomoro officially becoming a Cleaner and member of Glowing Dawn it was risky to take him now, so it was rather decided to observe Tomoro’s use of e-pulse and Gekkomon’s growth. Kyo as a former Five Star might’ve also suspected who took Asuka’s e-pulse, but was powerless to do anything about it since he knew just how above everything Five Stars were (also judging how reluctant he was to encounter Kaito and Clay) but still kept it as hope to keep Tomoro motivated.
Still, Chairman Wong kept sending challenges for Tomoro. There is a hint that the motorcycle Digimon owner was part of one experiment and practically confirmed the rogue Digimon that "accidentally escaped” the lab was Kanada’s doing. Both situations played a great role in Tomoro’s development and if they weren’t, the kid would likely still be at the same level he was before.
Then Kanada created another situation again, this time also using it to expose Klay’s plans. Being put in the literal gladiator style fighting ring where loss means being Cold Hearted would put Tomoro under a great pressure, probably forcing him to go beyond his limits. But before that could happen, Kyo came to his rescue again, so the experiment was put on hold for the sake of exposing Klay.
Now what exactly is this experiment regarding Tomoro trying to achieve? As stated before, his epulse is unique in many ways, most notably during episode 8, when Mimicmon was absorbing great amounts of Tomoro’s e-pulse and literally exploded. So it is heavily implied it can be powerful if too much of it is absorbed. In comparison, the baby digimon feeding on Tomoro’s e-pulse were fine since he was giving them little bits of it and RedVegiemon from Kinoko gang was also fine due to the fact that Tomoro’s e-pulse level was low due to just feeding all baby digimon. But that e-pulse heavily relies on Tomoro’s emotional state, something that Gekkomon can sense fast. If emotions are flooded by anger, Gekkomon absorbs all of it going dark and losing control, but if Tomoro’s motivation is strong, Gekkomon becomes incredibly powerful.
Tomoro’s theme song is literally called Edge of Limit, as the first time it plays is when Gekkomon evolves - right after Tomoro embraces every single part of himself. Afterwards he just kept pushing himself closer to that limit, learning from his mistakes and getting closer with his partner Digimon, to the point when even Raito acknowledged his true strength.
Team Tactics’ arc was all about gathering everyone’s strong e-pulse so Klay could artificially mega evolve his Digimon, but as we’ve seen it, such evolution is incredibly unstable. It was clear from Raito’s case that Digimon lose control if their Owner isn’t ready and forces them to evolve. Klay might’ve been stronger and more mature mentally, but he still used the energy from several unwilling sources that might’ve powered him up, though not enough against Kyo’s strong motivation to protect his family.
Which leads us to where we are at now - one of the most emotionally devastating cliffhangers so far.
Episode 23 ended just after Tomoro witnessed Kyo being brutally attacked by Klay and preview for episode 24 revealed it will just get worse - his new family will all be Cold Hearted and he will be all alone, losing control of his e-pulse.
Anger, fear, devastation, guilt, sadness… way too many emotions will overload Tomoro’s very fragile mental state with no one to help him out now. His Digimon partner will be only capable of absorbing all of that while also fearing for Tomoro’s wellbeing as it showed Tomoro will be slowly succumbing to Cold Heart as well while sending more and more of this unstable e-pulse in his partner. Digimon follow their Owners’ commands no matter what, so not even his partner will be able to stop him from this.
While several situations were observed or even started by Chairman Wong through Kanada, this one was not planned at all - Glowing Dawn simply went to retrieve people who were captured by Klay’s fighting ring. Chairman Wong probably thought that placing a bounty on Klay would force him to stay away, but he did the right opposite and set the plan to confront him in person with all he had. And not only that - it also impacted Tomoro’s experiment, pushing him to the extremes. Now while this might bring a lot of valuable data about Tomoro’s e-pulse it is also dangerously pushing him over his limit.
So where is this leading up to?
Tomoro might be heading towards the dangerous territory of dark evolution, something that happened in the past with Taichi and Skullgreymon from the first series, Takato and Megidramon in Tamers and most recently Raito with his partner. All characters were overwhelmed with one specific emotion that went haywire and caused wrong evolutions in their Digimon partners. But Taichi and Takato learned from this mistake and set the right evolution soon after and Raito seems to be on the correct path to do so himself.
But what about Tomoro? He has dealt with dark e-pulse before and both times learned it was wrong… but now he very clearly doesn’t care or more like he can’t. He is all alone, he already lost his family once and now he lost it again… he wants Klay destroyed even if it kills him because deep down he just wants this pain to end. Situation is truly desperate and if no one reaches out to him now, he is practically on suicidal fight against Klay.
It is not clear what will happen, but considering the episodes so far, the tone and themes, I believe one of these three scenarios will happen for Tactics arc finale:
Tomoro will be guided by strong memories of Asuka
The first arc of Beatbreak had a similar scenario - Tomoro was struggling with guilt of seeing everyone hurt around him and realizing he hates Gekkomon because he hates himself. While he was all alone, he still had memories of his brother, who told him that not every situation is entirely bad and he should keep going. Perhaps he will remember another important memory which will channel his e-pulse into something entirely new, helping his Digimon evolve into true next level before losing it to dark evolution.
2.Former Team Tactics will help him
Since Klay’s Digimon returned everyone’s e-pulse, Team Tactics will be able to fight by his side. Considering they were all locked up in literal coffins they will need a while to break out with their digimon and during that time Tomoro will fight losing battle, his e-pulse going darker. This will be a perfect opportunity for Raito’s redemption arc - he will see someone else lose control just like he did and will try to prevent Tomoro from doing the same thing. Granit and Hotaruko will buy him time while Raito will try to bring Tomoro back to his senses, saying that’s not him, that he wants to see Tomoro who defeated him, who was in perfect sync with his emotions and Digimon partner, something he was never able to do. It will take a while, but just the fact that Tomoro is no longer alone will give him the needed strength to conjure the right e-pulse for true next evolution and perhaps even Raito will be able to do it at the same time, now obtaining the true evolution of his partner - because he had the new reason to become powerful - to protect.
3. Kanada will interfere
Considering Klay has been wrecking up his plans for a while, Chairman Wong will likely not let him meddle with this experiment. While this scenario would be a great way to force Tomoro to unlock more of his powers, it is far less controlled compared to rogue Digimon in episode 12. Kanada was still nearby to observe and possibly stop it if it were to go too out of control, similar to how he was present in the fighting ring. This time the situation is not controlled but Kanada could still currently be on his way to the battle since his partner Digimon can enter Mirror World. Tomoro might either succumb to dark evolution but manages to stop it before it goes too bad or does get to true evolution but is severely exhausted at the end, leaving him vulnerable. Kanada will either take care of Klay or help Tomoro fight in the “we both have the common enemy” style and then take him, either by force (as he had already did once in episode 20) or offer Tomoro a deal:
“Come willingly and I will return Asuka’s e-pulse. Your parents and your grandfather are with Chairman Wong too. We just need your help.”
Tomoro will most definitely not trust him, but he will be willing to do it to get his brother back.
Each of the three scenarios is likely to happen, maybe there will be even a combination of two or all three and they all lean in the fact that this fight will heavily impact the direction of the story.
So what will be the focus of the next arc?
If Tomoro gets taken or accepts Kanada’s deal, he will be less present in the next major arc and honestly that could work. Even though he is the main character, Beatbreak has been doing a great job of giving each side character time to shine and with Tomoro “missing” and Asuka out of the coma, it could give more attention to other characters, especially Asuka, Kyo and former Team Tactics. Asuka is the narrator at the beginning of Digimon Beatbreak opening and that might be a big hint that he will become a part of the main cast. Of course he will be devastated about Tomoro being taken as it was one thing he was trying to prevent, but would finally give him an opportunity to reveal to everyone else of how his family is involved and why Tomoro’s e-pulse is so important. He might even get his own Digimon partner (or even adopt one from Niriso shelter, like Poyomon who had suspiciously a lot of screentime and happens to have angel-style evolution line which would be perfect for Asuka’s role of being a protective older brother, just like a guardian angel), Former Team Tactics will join and possibly relocate as old headquarters will no longer be big enough for everyone.
If he is indeed an experiment, he will be forced to follow the orders of Chairman Wong and if he won’t listen, the new Glowing Dawn will be hurt.
And what kind of experiment is Chairman Wong trying to achieve?
There is a strong hint it is biomerge evolution, a specific kind that was so far only used in Digimon Tamers. I will likely go into the depth of it in another theory breakdown as this one is getting too long, but in a nutshell - it is a fusion of a Digimon and their Owner. A strong bond between a human and their digimon has already proven to produce a lot of e-pulse, especially considering the digimon is born from human’s own emotions. If a human and Digimon based on them were to merge, that would create a massive energy source and that is exactly what Chairman Wong is seeking out.
In the next arc Tomoro will be forced to participate in an experiment to biomerge with his Digimon partner while Glowing Dawn will try to get him back, facing off the remaining Five Stars and maybe even ending up on a bounty list so they won’t interfere but they will find the ways to rescue Tomoro.
Of course this is still just a theory in the ongoing series, so the next few episodes might go in completely different ways, but it will be very interesting if any of these points end up true.
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