Digimon Beatbreak #39 Quick Reaction
In this episode, the vicious psychopath actually wants Kyo to kill him. Doing so is apparently very complicated and requires a day’s worth of planning and deception towards innocent third parties.
Aw… Souji just wants the old Kyo back. The somebody he used to know. The pre-woke Kyo that would murder a Digimon, hell, maybe a human, if there was a paycheck in it. It’s a twist that delivers exactly what the narrative needed. It forces an examination of who Kyo used to be and possibly answers both how Kyo became like that and why he stopped (make room in the fridge, Stella!). It makes Kyo revisit his past self, no matter how much he hates it, exposing the rest of Glowing Dawn to it and complicating how they feel about him. It also avoids the alternative of nothing but Kyo running around trying not to die for three episodes. There’s a lot more to all this, with Brilliant Thorn and World Union and Kaito and the Ministry all having their own reactions to these developments. For now, none of them really matter all that much. And while the direction we’re going is more interesting than anticipated, many of the twists that get us there sort of cancel each other out.
For all of his fiendish ways, direction is something notably lacking with Souji. While he did so with harrowing antipathy, Souji admits none of his acts of murder really moved him that much. He also says Wong never cared for him, so the job satisfaction couldn’t have been that high either. It makes sense that the old, merciless Kyo would get something out of him, that sense of using his lack of compassion for something benefiting a larger purpose and being rewarded for it. And that just because he shrugged off the deaths of others, he’d overlook his own as well. For Kyo it’s a more effective punishment for his past. Not as a spurned ally out for revenge and demanding the coldness he turned his back from; that would validate his choice. But as someone who reveled in the darkness alongside him, forcing him to embrace it again and drudge up all those memories, it’s hard to imagine a worse kind of hell.
His response seems dramatic at first: agree to the terms, bring back Old Kyo, and use him to burn down every bridge he built since then. It’s an intense moment watching the other Glowing Dawn members pleading for their lives as Kyo professes to reject them while Murasamemon kicks their asses. It’s the kind of thing we should be wanting more of, even as it breaks our hearts. But even in the middle of it something feels off. Kyo isn’t merciless towards them, letting their Digimon live even as he claims he’s a killer now. And the sudden shift in his demeanor feels abrupt even if we know why it supposedly happened. We sense there’s more to it even as it’s happening, and that’s not always great. And Glowing Dawn’s response is shockingly rational: they collect themselves, gather information, talk to the right people, and realize exactly what’s going on. Yeah, clearly Kyo’s keeping them out of trouble while he deals with the guy who actually took out Rose. Makes sense. And they’re very sensible about it, determined to help him deal with Souji and possibly even clear things up with the Ministry. Who, if Kanon is any indicator, only think Kyo did it because it takes a Five Star to defeat a Five Star. Except for, you know, the time Tomoro did. In the end, as wild a journey as it was to get there, and more to come as they drop in on Klay, it’s all adding up to Kyo and Glowing Dawn trying to reason with Souji instead of killing him. Which doesn’t sound like an outcome worth all this trouble.
Initial Grade: B+
