Digimon shipping dynamic game
I am always a Takeru x hikari undying fan forever. Curious on your thoughts about them from another perspective. It’s probably been done to death in so many different ways but it’s refreshing any time just the same.
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
Disclaimer: I won’t claim this to be a conclusive/definitive analysis of all of the ship’s aspects. Ship dynamics vary depending on which parts of the series/timeline or media types you are looking at. So this is going to be my personal take on it and just a personal interpretation of how I perceive them.
Whether canon provides input on them or not:
Takari are a very interesting case to look at in general, because, from an objective storytelling perspective, there are only few characters who are as consistently framed together in the way these two are (besides all the jogress combinations, namely Taichi/Yamato, Daisuke/Ken and, to a lesser degree, Miyako/Hikari and Takeru/Iori). This might take a little longer, since I actually haven’t paid too much attention to these two before, so bear with me:
Adventure 01 obviously doesn’t give them a lot of screentime together, as Hikari joins the group fairly late in the series and is also sick for a big chunk of it - however, they’re still played as parallels from the very beginning: Not only are they the youngest members of the Chosen Children and the siblings (and story-related foils) of the main fighters in the final arc, but they’re also the carriers of two of the most significant Crests, that are bound to bring the Light of Hope to everyone through their holy/angelic Digimon partners. These roles are even more strongly defined in the reboot and thus, they’re frequently seen next to each other - but it’s not the only thing they’re being paralleled for. Each of them has their very own set of brother complexes/issues, which are also important factors in how their relationship is developing and framed - from 01, 02, the movies, Tri to Kizuna. To put this rather shortly - Takeru, at first, projects onto Hikari in terms of wanting to protect her at all costs (just like Yamato overprotected him being the youngest and considered to be the “weakest”), whereas Hikari, at first, projects onto Takeru in terms of seeing him as someone she has to rely on (like Taichi).
02 frames them together, because they’re now the seniors of their new Chosen Children group, they share the memories, the experiences, the pain and the happy moments - they’re on good terms here, relaxed and visibly close to a point that makes Daisuke believe they’re actually a couple (who go on vacation trips together). But due to their issues, they do not really confide a lot in each other at this point. This is why Takeru gets angry at Hikari for being so dependant on Taichi (just like he was towards Yamato) and why Hikari deals with stuff on her own without asking for help up front (and will actually end up confiding more in Miyako as her jogress partner than Takeru). Their conflicts don’t really get resolved in 02, but one can see that there IS a foundation of trust between them, a connection, which is exactly why Takeru is able to track her down and reach her when she’s at the Dark Ocean, making them “connect through worlds” (which, in my opinion, is similar to how Taichi and Koushirou connected, even though this time, Takeru INTENTIONALLY wanted to connect with her to save her).
So it’s no surprise that they’re framed as rather close in Tri - which is logical, since the rest of their “usual” friend group has disappeared, so the youngest ones are left(overs) to stick together. Additionally, since they’re now 14, there is also a teasing element between them, with Hikari frequently nudging Takeru about his “ladies’ man persona” (and appearing a tiiiny bit jealous about it in the process), which Takeru downplays/deflects each and every time. Tri frames Hikari as noticing Takeru as a boy now, making her blush on a few occasions - whereas Takeru is framed to be her anchor, especially during the arc where Hikari thinks that Taichi has died, holding onto her, steadying her, giving physical comfort. So there actually is a bit of ship teasing here among the good old “him being protective of her vs. her being dependant on her brother” trope.
Last but not least, we have Kizuna, where they’re framed as being among the last remaining fighters to protect the real world from rampaging Digimon - trusting and relying on each other like, apparently, very comfortable partners in crime, who go on breakfast dates with their Digimon.
So the answer is yes - there is a LOT of material to work with, despite the fact that they were never confirmed as canon.
Whether I think why and how they’d work:
Based on everything I have outlined above, I believe that I don’t even have to mention why exactly this ship is probably one of the most popular Digimon ships world wide. Due to all the parallels between them (the Crests, the angels, the brothers), due to the fact that they’re consistently standing next to each other sharing (knowing) glances (because they’ve definitely seen things that bound them together), due to them seeming so comfortable by each other’s side (when things are not at stake), caring so much about each other’s wellbeing, it’s only logical to think of them as a romantic couple. It almost feels like they’re destined to be together - and I do think that it could definitely work, because them overcoming their respective traumas and start healing together could be the most wonderful thing (which, unfortunately, was never focused on in each of their arcs, because, most of the time, they’re really just foils for the sake of other characters’ developments). They’d have to tear down their respective walls for that though and that won’t be easy after all this time: Once Takeru opens up towards her about his doubts and fears, letting go of his fake smiles, masks and walls he built to make her (and everyone else) feel at ease, he could finally rely on her in return - that is, once he is able to see that he has projected onto her and that she’s more than capable to fight for herself. Once Hikari finally comes to terms with that she is indeed her own person for her own sake, not for Homeostasis, not for Taichi, or anybody else, once she can be honest towards Takeru and display her trust and affections in a genuine manner, they really could become the unstoppable “partners in crime” power couple - both on and off the battlefield. They already are mutually supportive and comfortable next to each other - with a lot of gentle teasing in between -, they just need to let loose a little more.
By the time they’ve reached their Kizuna ages, I could definitely see them spending study sessions together - with him comfortably practicing creative writing while she’s reciting her pedagogy teachings towards him. And since they’re both, apparently, very fond of coffee shops and the likes, one will frequently see them spending time there (also to provide Patamon with beverages of his choice and Tailmon with all the sweets she can get). Basically, I could see them spending a lot of their freetime together - and with their respective friend groups, just tagging along and having fun (for example gate hopping with the 02 gang or lounging around in Koushirou’s office with Taichi and Yamato).
Whether I’d prefer them as platonic or romantic ship:
This may sound a little bit weird regarding everything I have talked about so far, but despite the fact that I have grown to appreciate the romantic appeal of Takari a loooooot more throughout the last months, I always kinda preferred them as “platonic life partners”, if that makes sense? As outlined above, they have everything it needs to have a beautifully supportive, gentle and understanding relationship with each other that hits a lot of spots I usually fall for and I could definitely see them living together eventually - but rather as best friends (and also probably cuddle buddies, once they’ve gotten rid of their walls towards each other) than as classic romantic partners. I can definitely appreciate romantic framings for them, but I also love the idea of Hikari endlessly teasing Takeru about the ridiculous execution of his crushes (on Meiko for example), once he has finally admitted that his “dating phase” was just him trying to compensate. The boy has a lot of “broken family” related trauma, so him spending his life (whether romantically or platonically) with someone coming from a happy family to heal is still one of the best things (and the Yagami family has probably adopted him by now anyway, just like Koushirou). Takeru is the kind of person whose own romantic life needs a lot of time to actually get into motion, while he’s absolutely marvellous at sensing romantic opportunities for his friends (just like Mimi would, in my opinion) and that is why, in my opinion, he would be the best possible wingman for Hikari (to set her up with, for example, Koushirou or Miyako). They can both be absolute trolls when it comes to teasing their brothers (and others too) for example, so that’s absolutely something I could see them bonding over.
So yes, I’d actually enjoy both “timelines”, the one of them being platonic life partners as well as them being a romantic couple.
