FrontierFest, Day 16
Favorite relationship in the series
I gotta pick Kouji and Kouichi here! Light twin vs. dark twin is just such a classic concept, and it's made even better by the fact that Kouichi's purification and joining the group is such a pivotal part of the series. I just... love Kouji's journey of "I don't have any brothers or sisters, so I don't know anything about acting like a brother" (regarding Tommy in episode 7) to "Oh wait, I DO have a brother, and he's DUSKMON?!", to the "Now what??" awkward moments that both of them have. Their relationship runs the gamut, from Kouichi keeping secrets then sacrificing himself, to Kouji’s tears in the OR, to the two of them traveling to meet each other on their shared birthday (while worrying that their presents are not enough and wanting to know each other better) and finally... well... still worrying about how the other is feeling, but also being a lot closer and knowing that they will miss each other when they're not in the same country anymore.
As exaggerated and "soap opera" as the circumstances leading to their meeting are (deathbed confessions, light stalking, brainwashing, coming out of a coma, etc.), the ACTUAL development of their relationship is very slow and fumbling and sincere, and feels like a natural evolution of "I just found out I have a twin sibling" and not really knowing how to navigate that; making mistakes, but trying your best, and starting to form that bond anyway, because both of you want it to happen so much. One of the most compelling aspects of Digimon (to me) has always been “meeting your soulmate/missing half,” and the twins always felt the most representational of that concept for this season. And sometimes meeting that person is going to take some work! And that’s OK.
(Oof, brain tired, words hard and I don't think I really did them justice in this post, but I do love them a lot!)
