Odaiba Memorial Day 2021
My first Odaiba Memorial Day while being an active part of the fandom, and itās high time I write an essay about my crackhead obsession with Yakari.
(*There will be some swearing & f-bombs in this post) As a kid, Yamato was like the āblue and cooler Taichiā to me, like he doesnāt exist without being adjacent to the gogglehead. Also my family didnāt have the full Dark Masters arc in our CD collection, so I literally knew nothing about Yamsā emotional meltdown. But now, I adore this overly sensitive dork, and I donāt mean that in a derogatory way. Maybe Iām biased in this reading, but I think Yamato has had to push himself to mature faster than his peers; and heās very much a mini-adult at a young age. For all these grand monster battles, the main cast are still children; among them Yamato is a kid dealing with a lot of unresolved issues but heās got a lot of heart, heās passionate about those he holds dear but he just doesnāt know how to process this. Another thing that goes hand-in-hand with Yamato is the fact heās a musician. Again, I could be reaching way into my ass here; but thereās this mumbo jumbo real life idea of the ādepressed creativeā, and Yamato works his way out of that dangerously romanticised label. The kidās got a passion for music, heās literally been playing the harmonica since Takeru was in diapers .Without spoiling DA:LEK, Yamato still holds onto that flame into adulthood but itās not something he can actively work on; and that takes its toll. I love Yamato because heās someone who cares so much about those around him and what he does; and heās just a kid whoā sorting things out and wanting to better himself and well fuck, if that isnāt relateable. Even with the flaws that the Tri films have, I think itās a natural progression for Yamatoās character journey. I see people saying how āthey just turned him into a tsundereā or āheās so snappish nowā. But seeing as most of the Tri cast are in High School and general teenagers are assholes to each other, yeah itās not unreasonable to see why Yamatoās the way he is now. He didnāt lose his touch with the Crest of Friendship; when the literal world is up in flames, thereās still the same loyal and compassionate Yamato who understands the importance of being there for and with his friends. Yamatoās a big mushy boy who has a hard time conveying what he feels and his needs; Hikari isnāt any better and this was how I grew to love the concept of them being together. Sheās not the Chosen Child of Light for nothing, Hikariās symbiotic partnership with Tailmon is a very shoehorned metaphor of being an angel from Heaven and I absolutely eat that shit up. Fans have pointed out Hikariās so mysterious with her role and powers as late member of the team, the same can be said for her personality. You see Hikari, you think āsweet, little girlā and in part thanks to the 02 dub, she grows into being this sassy brat.Ā
A brat who has trouble asserting herself and is prone to literally get dragged into an ocean of depression. Like any respectful human, Hikari cares for her friends and family; but a mixture of that and a tendency to devalue herself is Hikariās fatal flaw. Sheās too self-sacrificing to a fault, and this reflects the other extreme end of her crest. In my own overly pretentious words, I think Hikari has self-imposed on herself for ābeing the light of the teamā; like she carries herself as a doll whose job is to bring others out of darkness when sheās still stuck in the shadows herself. Hikari doesnāt allow herself to verbalise her wants, let alone her needs because she doesnāt want to inconvenience others; she just goes with the flow and puts on a mask of toxic optimism.Ā
I am aware this analyse could be me scraping the bottom of the barrel, but itās how I interpreted Yamato and Hikariās character; and now Iāll articulate my brain rotĀ with how the fuck are these two being shipped.Ā Ā
You have these two people who already have this history and experience of being Chosen Children, but thereās also an underlying sub-connection of them being each otherās brothersā best friend. As many Yakari fanfics have headcanon, itās not unreasonable to think that Yamatoās at the Yagamisā apartment frequently because A) Taichi is his best friend and B) The Ishida apartment is prolly empty ācause Hiroakiās out being a workaholic. The Yagamis become the family that Yamato didnāt have growing up, and they welcome him with open arms. At their apartment, things are warm and rowdy, he doesnāt have to be alone with his thoughts and they treat him as a second son. Listen, I've been a diehard Takari shipper too, but I genuinely think Takeru and Hikari can be platonic soulmates. They know each other like the back of their hand, theyāre cosmically entwined and their Digimon are in sync; theyāre also legit a pair of best friends too. I know early 2000ās fics depict Yakari as being this big drama; but I have a weak heart and Iām here to say Yakari can be cosy and comforting and theyāre just two idiots in love who need to be honest with each other.
I imagine their courtship not to be this grand display of fireworks and āthe chaseā, but a very subtle experience with slow burn. For me, Yakari is very much the first blossom of spring. They represent new beginnings and youth, the gentle lull of Mother Nature tending to the earth, something thatās natural but the routine has existed for centuries. Yakari is very much a gentle love, and with everything Iāve said about their characters; these two learn to embrace and nurture the other until they have a whole garden of springās blossoms.Ā
This crackship has the surface-layer appeal of ābrooding lone wolfā and āsweet angelā, so when you peel the layers to find these two very private characters who just need that one-on-one reassurance/affirmation; this ship is a warm blanket of fluff and yes thatās basically the plot of my fics. Itās the charm of slice-of-life, the endearment of growing and improving yourself with the one you love with the occasional reminder that this is a series founded on puppies evolving into angels.Ā
Iāve had enough of tragedies and melodramatic love affairs. I write about Yakari because as cliche as this sounds, I want more stories about āthe light of friendshipā. Yes that was a god awful line, but it captures why I have brain rot for this pair. To celebrate my first OMD, I have uploaded a special chapter on my AO3 fic titled āMon angeā; it wouldnāt be August 1st if I didnāt half-hazardly work on this leading up to the big day. It couldnāt fit on Instagram, but this rambling piece is part of a bigger essay on my tumblr, so thatās also up and running. I hold Digimon near and dear to my heart, and I go about sharing that love by gushing about Yakari.
